Behind Bars 2: Parole
by soiknowwhentoduck
Summary: (Following on from Behind Bars) Out of prison and dating the head of Five-0, Danny Williams, it's time for ex-con Steve McGarrett to make his way in life - the legal way. But it's not long before trouble comes looking for him...
1. Smoothdog McGarrett

If he could, Danny always liked to go and pick Steve up from work on his way home.

Mostly because it was just a nice thing to do, to stop him from having to take a cab, or walking the five miles which he had done in the past when he'd refused to tell his cop lover he was low on cash. But also partly because when he would arrive the muscled brunette could quite often be found bent over one car's hood or another, working on the engine or cleaning the vehicle up.

Sometimes he would be under the car, on a roll board, legs sticking out in a completely fuckable position and the blonde would get to lean over him as he extricated himself from under the chassis and lock eyes with him from the floor.

At all times, though, he would be covered in engine grease, various oils and car waxes; his hair was usually askew, and the hot weather and hard work meant he'd also be coated with a sheen of sweat which made him practically glow. And by god was it a good look for him.

Tank top and cargoes, grease, sweat and tatts - that was Steve McGarrett these days, since he'd been released from prison to join Detective Danny Williams on the outside and pick up their relationship where they'd left off.

And it was that perfect view again for the blonde as he pulled into the garage forecourt to see that heavenly ass in those cargo pants sticking out from the hood of a car, dark green tank top rucked up slightly to expose a slice of lean back muscles under tan skin. It was definitely worth finding an excuse to get out of the office on time...

Steve glanced up from under the hood of the car he'd been working on when he heard the familiar roar of the Camaro's engine entering the lot. He'd been out for three months now, and everything had been going well. He was earning his keep, proving to himself and to his boyfriend that he could make it on the outside and do things the right way. The legal way.

He didn't know why it was so important to him. He'd always assumed that once he got out of Halawa Correctional he'd just disappear into the criminal underworld again and start back on the things he'd been best at - conning rich people, violent robbery, and just generally being the very opposite of an upstanding member of society.

But here he was; with a proper, paid, 9 to 5 job, regular meetings with his Parole Officer, behaving in all the ways a good man should... and dating a cop. That was one thing he'd _never_ thought would happen, not even as part of a con. He'd hated the law so much, his dad had been a cop and that's what had kept him so distant and got him killed after all, and the force were always chasing after him and trying to put him in jail.

Before he'd been thrown into prison just over three years ago, had anyone told him that he would not only be on speaking terms with a police officer, but that he'd be dating one, sharing a bed with one, living with one? That he would be in a relationship with the head of the Governor's task force? That he would be associated with the man's extended circle of law enforcement colleagues, and consider them friends of his? Well, he'd probably have shot that person in the leg just for their insolence.

But there was his detective, climbing out of his car and meandering across the asphalt toward him; compact, muscular body, gorgeous blonde hair, blue-grey eyes that killed him and brought him back to life every time he let himself fall into their depths... Danny was his and he was Danny's.

The cop approached the mechanic as he finished up work on the Mustang, wiping his hands on a rag which was already soaked with engine oil anyway. Danny had his hands shoved into the front pockets of his grey slacks, white shirt with fine grey stripes showing off his broad shoulders, dark blue tie hung around his neck in true ha'ole style - he liked to look professional, apparently.

"Hey babe," he gave that lopsided grin which always tugged at something in Steve's chest, squinting in the direct sunlight.

"Hey," he returned the smile and leaned back against the car, "Still with the tie, huh?"

Danny stopped a couple of feet away and his grin widened. "I know you hate them, I just keep wearing 'em to rile you up..."

The taller man was about to reply with something suggestive when Kai Alana, his boss, appeared from the rear of the garage, so he kept it to himself.

"Steve, how's this beaut doing?" The local man patted the roof of the Mustang. He'd taken McGarrett on knowing that he was an ex-con, under Danny's reassurance that he wouldn't re-offend and was reliable and hard-working. The brunette had been determined to not let his lover down on giving his word, and so he'd been just that.

"She should be running again now, boss," he threw his rag down on the floor next to the tool box, "You wanna give her a rev and check?"

Kai nodded and climbed into the car, gunning the engine and leaning out of the open window to smile at his employee. "She sounds better than before she broke down. You've done a good job here!"

"Am I allowed to take him off your hands now, Kai?" Danny asked him as the man exited the vehicle again. "If he's working as hard as you say, I think he deserves some food..."

The Hawaiian man smiled. "It's 5.07pm, and I ain't paying overtime, so time you took your leave, McGarrett. I'll see you Monday."

The two men said their goodbyes to the garage owner, and headed for the Camaro. Steve took the towel from the trunk which was there for him like always, and laid it out on the passenger seat of Danny's car to protect it from the layer of filth coating his skin and clothing.

Once they were settled in and the blonde was pulling out onto the highway, he glanced over at his boyfriend. "So I was thinking we could go out tonight? Maybe have dinner at Morimoto's, or whatever you feel like?"

The ex-con shook his head. "I can't really afford it, Danny. All of my wages go into my side of the bills, I don't have much left over."

"That's on your insistence, babe, not mine. You know I don't expect that of you." He squeezed Steve's thigh on a bit of his cargo pants that wasn't coated with dirt.

"But you should, Danno. I'm living with you, I use half the gas and electric, half the water, I eat half the food..." he received a sideways glance and a raised eyebrow from the shorter man, "Okay, _more_ than half the food... but that's my point. If I'm receiving my fair share, I give my fair share. I told you when I got out, I'm paying my way."

The detective wondered if he could actually get any more impressed by the man sitting next to him. He was so determined to show that he could play his part, that he put all of himself into everything. Danny could see why he'd been such a good con artist - he was focused and determined, and a conscientious worker is every way. Kai seemed more than satisfied by his work ethic and talent with mechanics, which he'd learned a lot of while inside prison, and to say the Jersey man was proud was the understatement of the century.

"Well regardless, it's my treat tonight. I'm the one suggesting we go out, I'm the one paying. I'm allowed to take my boyfriend out on a date, aren't I?" He was going to insist. They both needed it.

"Okay, fine. But can we go someplace a bit cheaper?" Steve finally conceded, realising his lover wanted to spend some time with him and spoil him a little.

The blonde worked hard to make it so Steve didn't feel like a kept man - accepted that he wanted to contribute, gave him the freedom he needed... not that he really knew what to do with it - two years in prison, being told what to do, when and how, all day every day, really took its toll when you wound up on the outside and suddenly in charge of your life again.

Hell, Danny had even told Steve the day he'd picked him up at the prison gates that he didn't want him to be his rent boy, that the ex-con didn't owe him for taking him on, and he'd meant it.

The sex they had was nothing to do with who saved who, no payment of debt, it was all about their relationship as boyfriends, lovers, equals. And it had never once felt otherwise.

And Steve loved him for that.

"And I need a serious shower before we go... " the brunette looked down at his oil-covered hands, "and then later I'm going to show you just how much I appreciate it in bed..."

Danny had to clear his throat at the mere thought of what could be in store. "That's- uh... that sounds good..." he mumbled a little hoarsely.

The mechanic loved that he could throw the cop's train of thought off so easily with only the mere suggestion of sex. He'd won several minor arguments that way. Their love life was hot and steamy, one born of rough and ready domination behind the bars of their prison cell when Danny had been wrongly convicted of being a bent cop and thrown into Halawa with Steve as a cellmate. Not knowing the shorter man was law enforcement, the brunette had quickly become obsessed with owning his new bunk mate, not only because he was the boss of the yard and needed to be in charge of any new blood, but because the man had intrigued him with his juxtaposition of physical and mental strength versus open submission.

Danny had just wanted to survive his projected twelve months in prison, and had told himself to keep his head down and take whatever was thrown at him just to make it through, despite it being so against his nature to let someone else control him. He'd been prepared to bow down to some sort of leader behind the walls, keep his nose clean, but he hadn't expected to have someone offer him protection the way Steve had. He had also realised, very quickly, that the protection come with a payment plan.

The way McGarrett controlled people was through violence, money, and sex… and Danny hadn't a dime to his name at that time. But it had been a revelation, because as it turned out Danny actually enjoyed being dominated sexually; specifically by the Greek god of a man he'd been thrown into a cell with.

He'd loved every moment of getting fucked hard and fast by that man, while slowly working his way under his skin to get to know the real Steve, find out how he ticked and why he was who he was. Becoming more than a possession, more than a toy to be used, within weeks he'd proven himself to be loyal, useful, and someone Steve couldn't do without. Under the strangest of circumstances and against the odds, they'd found love in amongst all of the filth and anger and tension that sullied everything about Halawa. They'd created something beautiful in that horrible place.

And when Danny had been cleared of any wrongdoing and he'd been let out, he'd gone to work cleaning out the cancers that had wracked the prison - the institutionalised bullying, the corrupt guards, and the lack of protection for the more vulnerable inmates. He'd changed it all, after seeing it from the inside. And he'd made a deal to get Steve a shorter sentence in exchange for information. He'd rescued him. And he expected nothing in return from the brunette except that he make a good life for himself.

He'd told him that he didn't need to stay with Danny, he didn't owe him. He could get back on his feet and leave if he so desired. He didn't have to live with the cop, didn't need to be in a relationship with him, none of it had been conditions of his freedom. But Steve wanted to stay. He'd picked this life now, one which he'd always thought would be hell for him and leave him feeling out of control, and yet he'd never felt more in charge in his life. Because he'd chosen it.

And they'd said 'I love you', and meant it.

They returned back to their house, showered and changed, and headed out to Sidestreets to have their meal together after the mechanic insisted on the much less expensive venue. They talked about Danny's current case and Steve's work, and how next weekend they planned to take Grace on a hike. Steve had grown up in Hawaii, and despite being away for many years during his years of illegal activities, he still knew the areas better than Danny who had only lived on the islands for around two years now. The brunette still knew the mountains, knew the trails, and he wanted to spend as much time with Danny and Grace as he could, fully acknowledging just how important family life was to the detective.

"Maybe I'll take you hiking some other time, just the two of us... I could take you up to see the petroglyphs?" Steve finished the buffalo wing he was devouring and leaned in towards Danny, "You ever seen those?"

"No, but I've heard of them. Graffiti on rocks, right?" The blonde stuffed a french fry in his mouth.

"Graffiti on... Jesus Christ, Danny, it's so much more than that! I definitely have to take you up there." He rubbed his face and dropped his hands to the table.

"Ooh, you gonna teach me all about the pretty pictures?" The cop teased and prodded his boyfriend's hand where it lay on the surface between them.

Steve lashed out and gripped his wrist, surprising him. "I'll teach you a lesson, alright..."

The detective dropped the fries in his other hand and swallowed hard. Fuck, he loved it when the brunette held him like that. He made him tingle, unleashed something inside him that loved to be taken and owned, and it worked so perfectly because where Danny liked to be conquered, Steve loved to take control. The ebb and flow of their relationship suited them both just fine, moving silently and easily from domestic bliss one moment to intense, and sometimes deviant, sexual pleasure the next.

"What, uh, what sort of lesson would that be?" His voice was a hoarse whisper, and he didn't care how he sounded.

The ex-con leaned in, his hazel eyes dark with lust and his voice a harsh growl. "One that involves me fucking you senseless... probably up against a tree, or maybe I'll just lay you out on the ground and screw you until you beg for mercy... I haven't decided yet..."

Danny took a deep breath and tried to collect himself, one hand going up to wave for the bill before sliding under the table to force the heel of his hand into his straining erection.

They made it out to the car before Steve began groping him indecently, and the detective fumbled with his keys while his brain tried to short circuit. The brunette grasped his ass cheek, and as he stepped up behind him to press his hard on into the cleft of his ass, the hand slid around the front of Danny's jeans to massage him through the material.

"Fuck, Steve..." he whined a little, finally managing to get his keys into the door lock and opening the door.

"I'm going to fucking have you when we get home," the taller man hissed in his ear as both hands went to grip the blonde's forearms and squeeze tight, "and you're going to love every minute of it. I'm gonna fuck you so hard..."

"Jesus..." The cop rocked his hips back into his lover, increasing the friction and pulling a moan from him.

"Get in the car and take us home, before I screw you right here in the parking lot for everyone to see..."

The idea of an audience only served to turn Danny on more and have him straining at his zipper. But, public indecency laws and all that, it was probably best for them to get home before he actually went ahead and let it happen.

Danny was hauled in through the front door of the house and pushed up against the wall, Steve's strong hands quickly searching out his wrists again and holding them to the plaster either side of his head.

"I've been wanting to fuck you all night," the taller man growled, leaning into to nip up the side of his lover's neck with sharp, insistent teeth, "You look so damn hot in that shirt, you know that?"

The detective grinned, because he knew Steve liked him in that shirt and he'd worn it purposefully to tempt the man. It was a black button down dress shirt which had the top three buttons undone to show off a tantalising glimpse of chest hair, and teamed with his tight dark blue jeans and black loafers, he knew it was a winning combination. Okay, he wanted his boyfriend to lust over him, so sue him.

The brunette was in a dark red shirt and black jeans, and he looked hot as hell, but Danny couldn't wait until those clothes were gone, to reveal the tanned skin and intricate tattoos underneath.

The ex-con was attacking the base of his throat, nudging his way under the shirt as he followed the blonde's collarbone across to find the scar on his left shoulder that had been left there by a shiv in prison over a year ago. He'd earned that wound protecting Steve, defending him against an old enemy when he didn't have to. Every time Steve saw it, it reminded him of the shorter man's tenacity and loyalty, and sparked electricity through him at the memory of Danny standing up to a man literally twice his size and putting himself between his lover and danger.

It excited him just to know that the other man _could_ fight him, but simply didn't. That he could have that control over someone when he shouldn't have. Danny was far from weak in every respect, but he gave himself to Steve.

He ran his tongue along that scar, eliciting a soft moan from his boyfriend.

"Leave your hands where they are," he ordered, and released Danny's wrists so that he could tackle the buttons of his shirt and whip it open to display his broad chest and abs.

He ran his hands through the soft, dark golden hair which covered his solid pecs, his fingers tracing down the treasure trail which led into the cop's jeans, all the while observing that Danny was dutifully keeping his hands in place.

"You're being a good boy tonight... I like that..." He rewarded his conquest with a hot kiss, demanding entry to his mouth which was readily given, and sliding his tongue along the detective's.

Danny whimpered into his mouth as Steve ground his hips against the blonde's, their hard cocks sensitive to even the smallest nuance of friction through their clothes.

The brunette quickly divested himself of his own shirt while his tongue plundered his boyfriend's mouth, unbuttoning his own flies and dropping the denim to pool around his ankles with his boxers.

He kicked all his clothing and shoes away, going to his knees in front of the Jersey man and undoing his pants with practised ease.

Danny's fingers twitched as he tried hard to resist touching his lover. It was all he wanted to do right now; run fingers over his smooth skin, grasp at him and scratch at his back the way he liked, pull his hair... It was so hard not to disobey, and sometimes McGarrett's penalties were just as much fun as his rewards, especially for someone like Danny.

In the past few months his misbehaving had resulted in spanking, biting, being made to wait torturous lengths of time to come, a bout of extra-hard fucking, and even being gagged at one point. And he'd enjoyed every punishment that Steve had meted out.

Tonight, however, he did what his master wanted, and held his own hands against the wall while the man's hit breath skated over his exposed erection.

"Tell me, Danny," Steve whispered against his skin, so close his lips brushed his hip as he spoke, "Do you remember the first time I fucked you in our cell?"

The blonde closed his eyes and leaned his head against the wall. "Mmm god yes..."

"Do you remember how I tied you up and used you? How you fucking loved every second of it?" He punctuated his question with a scrape of his teeth over the detective's thigh while he made him step out of his clothing.

"Yes..." It was difficult for anything coming out of his mouth not to sound like a whimper, but he didn't mind because the brunette already knew his power over his lover, and Danny knew it gave him pleasure to hear the strain in his voice.

"Do you want me to do that to you again?" His hot tongue tracked its way up along the deep groove of muscle between the cop's hip and abs, drawing another gasp from him, while his hands went to the Jersey man's ass cheeks and squeezed.

"Oh god yes..."

Steve's tongue flicked around the head of his leaking cock, and his hands flexed again as he desperately tried not to react. God, what this man did to him was devilish, filthy... he wanted to buck forward into that hot, wet mouth, receive the amazing blow job that he knew his boyfriend could give, but that would be disobedience, and the ex-con wouldn't allow that. He gave when he wanted to.

"B-but I want..." Danny stuttered and bit his lip.

Then the brunette was standing in front of him again, face crushed up against his, voice low and gravelly with danger, but with a soft edge to it.

"What is it you want? You can tell me..." His breath skittered over the blonde's neck as he went to take his earlobe into the heat of his mouth, his strong hands on the shorter man's hips.

"I wanna see you while you fuck me..." Danny gulped and exposed his throat to his lover. Steve was always in control, but he took the detective into account at all times; tailored their experience to suit both of them, never taking it too far or ignoring his lover's needs and wants. They had trust. They even had a safe word, not that they'd had to use it, Steve automatically seeming to sense his lover's limits.

Sharp teeth grazed his stubbled throat, and the mechanic hummed contentedly, before he leaned back to lock his heated gaze with his boyfriend's. "Good, because I wanna see your face when I make you come... now get in the fucking bedroom."

Danny wasted no time heading for their bed, the taller man's hands placed firmly on his lower back as he followed him, but not having to propel him. His shirt was pulled from his body and he was shoved down onto the mattress, his legs gripped and pulled at impatiently until he was on his back, and he scrambled so his shoulders were against the headboard. He put his hands up obediently to grip the metal rail, and the brunette began biting down his chest and stomach hard enough to leave little red marks.

Every scrape of teeth pulled a small 'ah' sound from him, and it brought goosebumps out on McGarrett's neck to hear them. He pulled their bedside drawer open and brought out the lube, coating his fingers before hoisting the blonde's ass into the air and kneeling between his legs.

He slipped one finger into the valley between his cheeks and smoothed over the cop's tight hole, making him whimper.

"I'm gonna fuck you so hard, Danny. I'm gonna make you scream, you got me?"

The detective bit his lip and tried to control his breathing. Steve had an amazing way of getting him worked up just by telling him what he was going to do to him - he'd brought the blonde to orgasm before just with his words, after stopping mid-fuck to torture him - and it always made him shiver to hear the deep darkness in his boyfriend's voice.

When he didn't answer, he received a sharp smack to his outer thigh, making him gasp. "Yes, Steve..." he whispered.

"Good boy..." The ex-con pushed his finger inside Danny's ass, and the blonde moaned and pressed back against him. He pumped into him carefully a few times, letting a broad grin spread across his face. "Where did you put the rope?"

"The wardrobe..." was about all the instruction Danny could manage at this point. The finger was withdrawn from him, and Steve made his way across the room to dig out the bondage rope that the detective had purchased for their private use. It was soft on the skin, didn't leave marks even when done up tight, but was sturdy.

He returned to the bed and looped it around the blonde's wrists and the bars of the metal headboard to hold him in place. They'd had to replace the wooden bed frame due to wrecking it during their first weekend after Steve's release...

Once the detective was secured, the ex-con began assaulting him with his mouth again, alternating between licks and nips as he worked his way down his body, and his finger slid back inside him.

Now that Danny didn't have the distraction of trying to keep his hands still, he could fully enjoy his lover's mouth on him, and he flexed and strained at his binds while he writhed under the brunette's touch.

The fingers of Steve's free hand dug into his ass hard enough that he knew it would bruise. Being marked by his man was erotic, knowing that he could look in the mirror the next morning to see strings of fingertip bruises or the remnants of bite marks just served to turn him on more. He loved belonging to the caged beast that was Steve McGarrett.

The mechanic inserted a second finger and marvelled at his lover's body, the firm buttock in his grasp, his gorgeous full cock laying heavy against his stomach, the way the muscles in his chest and arms moved and contracted as he squirmed beneath him, breathing hard. He was glorious and he was Steve's.

His tight passage felt wonderful around his fingers as he worked him open, and he considered how frustrating this whole process could be, having to wait that bit longer before sliding his cock into the man. He made a decision in his mind to suggest something to Danny, but that was for later. Right now he was forcing a third digit into the man and watching him carefully as he dealt with the edge of pain. He knew he could say no, but he rarely did, seeming to enjoy the sharp feeling of being stretched so roughly.

"Oh fuck, Steve I need you..." his voice was a needy, desperate whine and it never failed to bring the ex-con to the boil. Shit, he was heavenly when he was so undone, so exposed and raw.

He grabbed the lube up and coated his cock thoroughly, before wiping off his hands and grasping the blonde's thighs to his stomach, lifting him off the bed. He positioned himself so his throbbing dick sat at Danny's entrance, the detective's entire body suspended above the mattress between Steve's body and the ropes tying his wrists to the bed, and stilled himself.

He wanted to plunge into that hole, wanted to take his boyfriend hard and fast, but he enjoyed playing with the man too much. Loved seeing him desperate for his cock.

He knew the effect his voice could have on Danny, so he kept it low and gruff. "You want me to fuck you, baby? You want me inside you?"

"Yes, god yes..." The cop's ice blue eyes met his, heavy-lidded with desire and lust.

He let the danger leak into his eyes. "Tell me how much you want it... tell me what you want me to do..."

Danny didn't look away, his gaze never faltered. He didn't get embarrassed anymore, he knew that Steve loved this side of him, that he didn't need to be afraid of being judged by the tattooed criminal.

"I want you to sink your cock into me, I need you to fuck me hard... Please, Steve, take what's yours..."

And that was something he'd never be able to resist. _Take what's yours_.

He thrust forward, entering his lover, driving deep into him until he was fully sheathed inside the man's body. Danny cried out wordlessly, his eyes slamming shut, head thrown back, and he arched his back in mid-air as he gripped the bar in his hands.

Steve didn't pause, not even giving him a moment to adjust, knowing they were both yearning for their completion, and he shifted his knees so that he could slam into the blonde over and over, his hands under Danny's thighs, pulling them wide so he could ram in even deeper. Sweat dripped down his back as his muscled strained to hold the man off the bed, at the perfect height for him to hammer into that sweet, tight ass, and his orgasm began to coil at the base of his spine and tug at his stomach.

Danny was moaning his boyfriend's name over and over, interspersed with curse words and unintelligible sounds which were forced from his chest with every driving thrust. The brunette's cock was sliding over his prostate with each movement, and sparks were zipping up his spine, into his brain. His arm and shoulder muscles burned with the tension required to hold him up, but it was the sweet background noise to the main event of having Steve take him hard.

"Fuck, Danny... So hot, so perfect. Fuck..."

Steve's husky voice flowed over him, tickled at his consciousness, twisted through his body. Hearing those words from that mouth, breathy and broken, took him over the edge.

He screamed his lover's name and every muscle in his body seized. Hot pearly spurts of cum spilled over his stomach, and he bucked against the man holding him.

The feeling of the detective's climax rolling through him, tightening his muscles, the way he shouted Steve's name; it pulled his own orgasm from him and he drove deep into him one last time as he released his heat into his lover, claiming him, grunting and breathing out his name.

As Steve came down from his high all the energy left his body, and he had to pull out of Danny and lower him to the bed before he dropped him.

"Fuck..." he gasped out as he collapsed down next to the blonde.

"Jesus..." The detective panted and looked over at his boyfriend, unable to move any other part of his body. "You're a fucking animal, McGarrett..."

The brunette chuckled and stretched out his twitching muscles. "I try."

Danny made a contented noise and relaxed into the sheets, not even bothered that he was still restrained, but Steve was soon reaching over their heads to loosen the rope, and supported his arms as they were freed. They felt like useless dead weights as he laid them on the mattress, which was fine by the detective because he had no intention of moving any time soon anyway. He'd just let the feeling return to them naturally.

Steve's body was tired, but his mind was still active, invigorated by the adrenaline of assaulting his lover. "Maybe next time I've got you tied up, I'll just make you suck me off and leave you waiting," he smirked, "maybe I'll tease you until you lose your mind... then I can take you whatever way I want and you'll be begging for it..."

"You are a dirty _dog_ , Steve," Danny grinned at his lover; he was always thinking up ways to torture his willing captive, and he had a filthy mind, which the cop appreciated no end. It made life interesting.

The ex-con rolled onto his side and took his boyfriend's lips in a delicate kiss, sliding his hand up over his jaw and into his hair. It was full of love and promise, so gentle in contrast to the rough sex they'd just had, and it sent shivers through the detective as he sighed into the brunette's mouth and the entire length of their bodies pressed together. He loved this man, so much; the way he bounced from dark to light, burning heat to icy cool, zero to sixty and back again. He had burrowed under the blonde's skin, into his heart, made it his home.

The finally broke the kiss, and Danny wrapped his arms around the other man now the feeling had returned to them. He felt lightheaded after that rush of emotion.

" _Still_ think I'm a dog?" Steve gave him that shit-eating grin.

"Yes, you're _still_ a dog..." Danny kissed him again, "but I'll admit, you're a damn smooth one..."


	2. Dodgy Business

It was 11am Monday morning, and Steve marched into Five-0's headquarters with his boyfriend's lunch in a paper bag.

"Hey Steve!" Kono waved, leaning against the tech table in the main area. She had a big grin on her face the moment she spotted him, and the ex-con couldn't help but smile back at her.

"Hey Kono, Danny around?" He waved the bag at her. "He forgot this."

"Boss Man's in his office." She hooked a thumb toward the corner office door and waggled her eyebrows suggestively. She was adorable; smart, sexy, funny, and damn good at her job, and she seemed to love Steve despite his rocky past. She also loved the idea of Steve and Danny as a couple, specifically both of them _together_. She certainly wasn't shy about making them aware of it, either.

He gave her a dirty grin and headed for his boyfriend's door. He wasn't going to even try and look innocent, because despite him actually being there on a legitimate food delivery mission, there was no way he was going to resist harassing his lover in his place of work. Not after the ground work he'd already put in that morning.

"I'll make sure you're not interrupted for a while, yeah?" The Hawaiian woman smirked.

"Much appreciated," Steve returned the smile and winked, and she went back to accessing files on the table in a slightly more distracted way.

He knocked on the glass and waited for the detective to call out. The blinds on the windows were already down, he noted. Good.

"Yup, come in!"

He opened the door, and the blonde looked up from his paperwork, mildly surprised to see his boyfriend instead of one of his team, but he flashed him a grin.

"Hey Danno," he leaned against the door jamb and smiled back at the cop. He was wearing one of his damn ties again, and Steve did not approve.

He let his pen drop to the desk. "Hey, Smoothdog."

"I told you not to call me that," Steve dropped the food on his desk after closing the door behind him, but he was smiling at the affectionate nickname, "I brought your lunch."

"You didn't have to, babe, I could have picked something up." He got up out of his chair to slide one arm around the brunette's waist and reach up to bring him down into a kiss.

"Oh, but I _did_ need to," Steve purred as he broke the kiss, and backed the shorter man into the desk where he drew in a sharp breath.

He'd been hiding it all morning, trying not to show it in the way he walked or acted, and the uncomfortable pressure had eased somewhat. But every now and then, when he sat down or bumped something solid, he was reminded of its presence.

Steve had attacked him in the shower that morning, given him a surprise blow job to distract him, and used the opportunity to slip it in. Then he was firmly told that it had to stay put. And he was being good today, because Steve experimenting was not something he wanted to discourage.

The taller man gave him an animalistic flash of his pearly whites, and leaned down to take his mouth again in a hot kiss, not bothering with the pleasantries of requesting entry and simply pushing his tongue into Danny's mouth. His hand went to cup the detective's crotch, quickly wakening his libido, and his other hand latched fingers into his belt.

Then he grasped the blonde's hips and spun him, his own erection grinding against his lover's ass and making the shorter man moan at the slight discomfort.

"I'm guessing from the way you're reacting that you've left my little present in?" He nibbled at the shell of Danny's ear and worked his way down to the lobe, taking it in between his lips.

"Yes, of course," the blonde groused a little, "Not my usual work wear though, babe. If we'd had a raid or something-"

"But you didn't," Steve cut him off, sliding a hand up around his throat to gently, but firmly, stroke his thumb and fingers over the stubble either side, "and it makes me very happy that you're following orders..."

The Jersey man sighed as his lover's hand snaked around again to unbutton his flies, and he let his eyes drift closed. Steve tugged his slacks and boxers down and slipped his hand back between them to slide his thumb down in between the blonde's cheeks and caress over the hard rubber there, making him gasp. He nudged it again, purposefully to draw another reaction from the cop.

"Fuck, Steve... when you said... I didn't think you'd be coming to the office..." he wasn't complaining though. He'd be lying if he said the thought of the brunette taking him at work hadn't crossed his mind multiple times.

"How am I supposed to resist bending you over your desk when I know you're ready and waiting, huh?" He smirked, licking a long line up Danny's neck from his collar to his ear, nipping the lobe again with sharp teeth and making him startle.

He removed the sachet of lubricant from his cargo pants pocket before unzipping and dropping them to hang around his thighs, then he ripped it open and smeared the contents down his shaft. He'd been hard since the moment he'd left the house, knowing where he was headed and what he was going to find when he got there, so now he was throbbing almost painfully and the cool gel soothed him. It was ironic, as this was supposed to be the solution for him not having to wait to have his way with his boyfriend, and it had probably resulted in having him turned on for a longer period of time.

He pushed on the cop's back until he leaned forward onto his desk, and then knelt on the floor behind Danny so that he could watch as he removed the butt plug. He moaned indulgently at the sight.

"Look at you, nice and open for me, waiting for me." He placed the toy on the desk next to his lover and dipped a finger into his stretched opening. "Fuck..."

Danny drew in another sharp breath as his boyfriend's tongue circled his entrance along with his finger sliding inside. It was sweet mercy to have that thing out of him. It hadn't been particularly large, only there to keep him primed for his man, but it had been hard to forget about and not easy to drive his car without causing minor discomfort.

As Steve's tongue slipped in further, he whimpered at the heat of his mouth. God it felt good to have him tend to him like that. They had their delicate and nights of love making, it wasn't all ropes and bruises, but sometimes that was exactly what he needed.

The mechanic withdrew and bit his ass cheek lightly, before standing behind him and pressing his cock to the blonde's prepared hole, tugging him back upright and gripping his tie over the knot, determined to make it useful for something. He couldn't hold back any longer, gripping his hip, pushing in and gliding his entire length inside that glorious silky heat.

"Oh f-" Danny's loud exclamation was cut off by Steve's other hand, because at least one of them remembered where they were, and the brunette wasn't too keen on getting his boyfriend into trouble.

"Shhh," he whispered in the detective's ear, pulling his hand away to wrap it around his throat instead, "Shut the fuck up or I'll just make you blow me and leave. You want that?" The threat was idle, he wouldn't really treat Danny that way, but he wanted to make sure his lover kept the volume down. It was like being back in cell 48, making sure the guards didn't catch them screwing on the bunks.

Danny whined softly. "No, no I want you to take me..."

"Good, because that's what I'm gonna do," he growled, his other hand dropping the tie and rucking up the bottom of the blonde's shirt and scratching nails over his abs.

The cop braced his hands on the wooden surface in front of him as he felt his boyfriend withdraw his cock. It felt thick and unyielding inside him, fitting him and filling him perfectly, and he longed for it the moment it was gone. He thought the taller man would drive back into him, but he was pleasantly surprised when his lover began a slow, intense pace, sliding all the way back in and making sure to push against his sweet spot as he moved, before pulling back so just the head of his dick remained inside.

He kept the motion going, taking his time and rolling his hips, working them both into a slow build of ecstasy. His strong fingers pinched one of Danny's nipples and he made an undignified noise, squeezing his eyes closed tighter. That man was a fucking god, knowing exactly how to take the blonde in all the right ways.

"Fuck, Steve..." he whimpered the words, fingers clawing at the desk.

The taller man gripped his throat harder, though not enough to leave marks, and grazed his teeth over the back of his boyfriend's neck just above his collar.

"God you feel so good, Danny... so hungry for me..." His speed gradually began to pick up and his hips jerked against the cop's ass. One of Danny's hands came back to grasp at his hip to pull him in harder, and Steve followed the guidance. He increased his rhythm, fucking into the Jersey man, bending him further over on the desk with his hand moving to the back of his neck to hold him there and give him leverage. The furniture shifted underneath them, moving a couple of inches out of place as the mechanic began to pound into Danny harder.

He felt so good, so hot and delicious, and he'd been desperate to bury his dick inside him for so long, he couldn't hold back. Steve came hard inside his lover, bucking against him and stifling his cry with his own hand. He had to take a moment to breathe through his high, before swiping up the butt plug and pressing it back into the blonde as he removed his cock.

Danny had just been on the brink of orgasm when Steve had stopped, but he didn't have any time to complain because the toy was quickly pushed into him and he was pulled upright and spun around. The mechanic was suddenly back on his knees in front of him, taking his neglected cock into his searing hot, slick mouth, and immediately deep throating him, growling deep in his chest and swallowing hard.

Steve had to hold his boyfriend back against the desk as his orgasm hit, and the blonde bit down on his own fist to keep from screaming the brunette's name. He drank him down greedily, licking him clean after the final spasms had wracked his body, and then he stood and kissed the detective hard as he pulled up his pants and zipped up.

The taste of his cum on Steve's tongue was heavenly, and Danny moaned quietly as the orgasmic haze cleared from his brain. He wanted to just settle into the warm, solid chest of his man and drift away, but the taller man was already drawing back and kissing his cheek and his forehead.

"I gotta go, Danno. Kai put me on the late shift because he needs my help tonight... but fuck, that was good..." His boyish grin gave way to a hopeful expression, wanting to ensure his boyfriend had enjoyed himself. "Did you like it?"

Still a little dazed, the cop giggled. "God yes..." he grinned, and kissed the brunette again, "Yes, definitely."

He pulled his pants up and rubbed at his ass a little. The plug would be coming out the first moment he got.

Steve stepped back up to him and looked down on his face, heat in his eyes. "God, you're so fucking perfect, you know that? I can't wait until I get home tonight, the thing I'm gonna do to you…"

Danny shivered, gazing up into those deep hazel eyes, breath still shaky. "I'll be waiting for you…"

He was rewarded with a smile that crinkled the corners of Steve's eyes. "I love you," the mechanic whispered, pecking the blonde on the lips and giving his tie an affectionate tug.

"I love you too, Steve," Danny replied. And he watched as his lover left for work, closing the office door behind him.

He straightened his clothes out and tucked his shirt back in, combed his hair back with his fingers and settled down into his chair again, a little more carefully this time.

Well, that was another fantasy fulfilled by the force of nature that was Steve - sex in the office could get a big tick next to it on his bucket list. If Danny had been the type to believe in that sort of thing, he might be pretty sure the man had been sent by the angels themselves to reward the detective for something he'd done very right in a past life.

There was a knock on the door and he called out for the person to enter, and Kono opened the door and leaned in. She had a big grin on her face.

"What's up?" He asked nonchalantly.

The Hawaiian woman's eyes sparkled. "Steve said you might need help shifting your desk back into place?"

He couldn't stop the red blush the crept up his neck and into his cheeks. "Fuck off, Kalakaua." He threw his pen at her as she beat a hasty retreat, giggling.

Okay, maybe Steve had been sent by the devil instead...

Kai set him to work on a road bike when he got in, and he spent the majority of the afternoon bringing the Kawasaki back to health and polishing it up for its owner.

After 5pm when everyone else had gone home for the evening, the local man ordered in some pizza and invited Steve into his office, gesturing for him to take a seat.

"Bruh, there's a reason I put you on late shift. I need you to do some specialty work on a few cars for me. Important customer, pays well. And I know you need the extra money right now." He kicked his feet up onto the desk while Steve ate his food and listened to him. "You're a good worker, you're trustworthy, so I wanna give this gig to you. I think it's up your alley."

Steve smiled at him. "I really appreciate that, Kai. I could definitely do with some extra cash."

"Come with me, I'll show you what we need." His boss beckoned to him and walked out of the back exit of his office, down the fire escape and into a warehouse that backed onto the garage. Steve followed, curious. He'd worked there for three months and hadn't known this building belonged to Kai.

Inside the large space were four muscle cars; a Dodge Charger, two Ford Mustangs, and a Chevrolet Camaro.

"This all need a re-spray, some repair, new license plates and... as an extra service for this client," he lifted the hood of the nearest vehicle and tapped on the VIN plate on the engine block, "these are getting replaced."

Steve creased his brow. "That doesn't look damaged, why does it need replacement?"

Alana grinned. "The new VINs may not entirely... match?"

The brunette crossed his arms. He knew what this meant, he wasn't an idiot. The garage owner was in with someone to re-sell vehicles ilegally, strip them of their old identities and create new ones. These muscle cars were stolen goods.

"Kai, I can't have anything to do with this man. I'm fresh outta prison, I don't wanna go back in."

The man held his hands out in a friendly gesture, still smiling like he was asking his employee to wax a Buick or some other mundane task. "That's why I came to you, bud. You know what you're doing, you know the criminal underworld around here, and you've got a vested interest to not let anyone find out about what's going on. I know you're not afraid to get your hands dirty..."

"I don't want this, I'm on the straight and narrow now." The brunette backed towards the door. "You do remember I'm dating a cop, right? He's the one who got me the job here?"

Kai sighed, his toothy grin fading. "I had hoped that wouldn't come into it..." he leaned back against the car. "Thing is... I've been listening to you these past few months, reading between the lines. I know you're not getting enough money in to pay your way in that little domestic life of yours. I know you're dipping in to whatever little savings you have to make ends meet, and you don't want your lovely Danny to know that because, for some weird reason, you feel like you need to prove yourself to him. Whatever, I don't care about that. Fact is this: no one gets hurt doing this-" he made a wide gesture to the cars, "and you make a couple grand to keep you going. Williams doesn't need to know, no one needs to know, except us."

Steve continued to back up, and shook his head. "No, I'm sorry. I can't." He began to turn away.

"I didn't want to have to do this, man..." Alana sighed, "If you walk out that door, I'll clear out this warehouse so there's no evidence. Then I fire you, and I tell your PO and little lover boy I caught you stealing from me."

The ex-con froze, and cast an angry glare back at the Hawaiian man. "You've got nothing on me, Kai. I haven't taken anything."

Alana shook his head and laughed. "I've already planted stuff in your locker, bruh. And in other places too, so don't think you can just go get rid of that. I had a feeling you'd be difficult... there's drugs in there for good measure too, and I can make it look _real_ bad for you. I'm a great actor."

Steve could feel his pulse in his ears, blood rushing through his veins. He felt trapped, and he hated that feeling. He wanted to lash out, but where would that get him? More ammunition against him for Kai.

The native man walked towards him with his arms wide again, a soft smile on his face. "But it doesn't need to be like that, Steve. Just do this work for me, huh? You get your money, we all walk away happy... and no one gets hurt..." The friendly voice carried a thinly veiled threat.

Steve met his solid gaze and immediately knew he'd meant every word about lying to his boyfriend. He would ruin him. But Danny would see through it, right? He'd know Steve wasn't on the take... wouldn't he?

He began to shake his head again, and Kai put his head on one side and spread his arms, giving him the innocent act. But he spoke like he knew exactly what he was doing, boldly and confidently.

"Your boy is a cop, Steve. A detective. You get into trouble, get accused of some shit like this? He can't stay associated wit'you. And it's not just him, ay? What about the other Five-0 lot? Your Parole Officer? HPD? Who they gonna believe? A local straight up business man with a legit garage, who has never been in trouble in his life?" He gestured to himself, a bright smile on his face. And then he pointed to Steve and his eyes went dark, voice harsh. "Or you? Ex convict. Criminal. Con man... you've thieved and lied and cheated your way through life. No one will believe you. Not even your Danny."

Steve looked down at himself. It was true, no one would believe him over Kai. He was scum, he knew that; no point in telling himself otherwise. And everyone knew it really - they put on sweet smiles and played friends, but they all knew who he was and what he'd done. Kono, Chin, Meka... Danny...

Danny had seen him in prison, saw the way he used to use and disregard people. He knew he wasn't trustworthy. Steve had changed, but his man couldn't know that for sure. His past was destroying his future.

He looked up at his boss again, glanced over towards the cars. As long as no one was actually getting hurt... and it would secure the money he needed to keep up his side of the bills. He had minus figures in his accounts with the bank, and he didn't have much leeway to go with his overdraft before he hit broke...

He nodded sadly, and met Kai's gaze. He would just have to work out a way to forgive himself.

"It's a one time deal," he said sternly.

The man just laughed. "We'll see..."

"Hey babe," Danny shouted to Steve from the kitchen as the mechanic walked in through their front door. It was almost ten in the evening. "You're late back, was there lots of work?"

"No, no," the brunette called back, "I just walked back..." That much was true. He'd had to clear his head. But he'd also spent the last few hours starting on the Dodge, removing the VIN plates which, in itself, was a criminal act, and replacing them with the fake ones, and he'd done the first coat on the respray, the red paint still flecked on his arm to remind him of his deeds.

Danny walked into the room, drying his hands on the dishcloth after finishing the washing up. "You should have called, you goof, I'd have picked you up!"

"I wanted to walk, get some fresh air, y'know?" He shrugged, giving him a smile which he hoped looked genuine, and dumped himself into the soft couch.

The blonde threw the cloth over his shoulder onto the floor and straddled the ex-con's legs playfully, getting his knees up onto the cushions either side. "Well I hope you're not _too_ tired, because I seem to remember you saying something about this evening in my office earlier..." he trailed off when Steve wouldn't meet his eyes, and leaned back, "You okay, babe?"

Steve nodded and finally looked up at him. "Yeah, sorry D, I'm just exhausted is all..."

Danny didn't know what was going on, but it was unlike his boyfriend to be this evasive. He did seem tired, though.

The cop didn't expect sex every night, they'd had their days off and it wasn't the entire basis of their relationship, so he carefully climbed off the taller man and settled in beside him. Something had changed between their rendezvous at the Palace and now, and the detective in him immediately wanted to work out what it was. But for now the boyfriend in him just wanted to take the man in his arms and comfort him, protect him from whatever ailed him. He didn't like it when his lover was down.

He decided not to press Steve over what was wrong. He knew the man had his trust issues, so he would have to let him come to him if it was anything important. If it was just a passing thing, well he obviously didn't want to talk and it would be over soon; if it was bigger than that, he'd just have to wait.

So he curled his legs under himself and pressed his body into Steve's side while the mechanic clicked the remote to turn the TV on, and wrapped his arm around his shoulders to kiss his temple.


	3. Push Comes To Shove

"I don't know what's going on with him..."

Danny stared down into his takeaway coffee cup as he and Meka leaned up against the Camaro near the beach in Waikiki with their drinks.

Detective Hanamoa rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically. "Okay, so you haven't had sex in a few days, deal with it bruh. That's marriage..."

The blonde smacked his arm distractedly. "We're far from married, Mek, so shut it. No, it's not just that... I mean, that's unusual enough in itself, believe me. But Steve's just been really distant, you know? He's working late at the garage because he wants the extra money. He talks, but he doesn't say much."

The native man took the last gulp from his black coffee before throwing it in the trash can nearby. "Listen, you said it yourself before, he's got his issues. And I'm sorry D, but really how long have you actually known the guy?"

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?" Danny glared at his partner.

"It means what it means, buddy. I'm just looking out for you." The taller man nudged his arm with his elbow in a friendly gesture. "But ignoring the year you spent apart while he was in jail, because let's be real you didn't exactly get much face time in while he was locked up and you were on the outside... you've been together a grand total of what? Four months?"

The blonde did the mental arithmetic and nodded reluctantly. Yeah, the four weeks he was in Halawa with Steve initially, and the almost three months following his release... give or take a week or two for the few visits he'd got in over the year when Steve was still inside, he was looking at roughly four and a bit months of what someone might call a relationship. Was that time enough to get to know a person?

Anyone else, maybe not. But Steve? He'd always felt this deep connection with the man, like part of them had known each other forever. When people had talked about soul mates, he'd always thought it was cheesy sentimentality; as if some deep part of you could know there was another half out there, and just be patiently waiting for its counterpart to appear. It was a ridiculous concept... and he understood every part of it now.

"No, I know him man. He's not like this, he's open with me. He knows he can trust me." The Jersey man nodded to himself assertively and finished his latte, the paper cup joining his friend's in the trash.

"Well _something's_ going on that he's not sharing, according to what you say..." Meka brought him back down to earth again. "Listen, don't get me wrong. I like the man, we all do. Chin, Kono and me, we can see he's a good guy who's just had a bad life of it, but none of us can claim to _know_ him. Not even you, hoa."

Danny sighed and whipped his keys away when his partner made a grab for them. He liked to steal the Camaro once in a while and usually ended up damaging it somehow.

"I hear you, Mek... I just... I think I know him better than that. Something's up, I just hope he talks to me soon..." He walked around to the driver's side door and climbed in, the Hawaiian man taking his place in the passenger seat. "And what's this about 'that's marriage, bruh'?" He did a bad impression of his partner's surfer accent. "You and Amy having problems?"

Meka leaned back as his friend started the engine. "We're married with a little kid, D. Got no time for anything much these days..."

The blonde snorted. "Okay, I'll tell you what. I'll do you a solid and take Billy off your hands for an evening, have him round for a movie night with Gracie or something. And you and Amy can do the horizontal mamba all night long, yeah?"

The dark-haired man burst out laughing. "Yeah, right, I hardly have the energy to get out of bed these days, let alone do anything while I'm in it! But thanks, I appreciate it."

The detective pulled out onto the street. "What are partners for, huh?"

Kai pretty much left Steve to it, letting him work while wallowing in the swamp of his own self-loathing. The brunette tried to concentrate on the details of the job, thinking of it as just another car being repaired for a normal customer, but his boss would appear to check up on him sporadically, or he'd find something in a glove box which just went to show the vehicle had been taken without the owner's permission, and he would be reminded again of the illegal nature of what he was doing.

Each time he removed a VIN plate, he felt like he was prying another part of his soul away. And he'd been surprised to find out he even had a soul in the first place.

The way he'd lived his life pre-prison had been less than righteous... stealing and conning for survival had turned into stealing and conning for fun. He'd used people, hurt people... He'd had people hurt when he couldn't get to them himself...

But he hadn't come through unscathed. He'd been screwed over in his past, more than he'd care to admit, by people whom he had placed his trust in.

It was immeasurably rare for Steve to give anything away, and so when he had taken on a small crew to work with it was a big deal. It required faith in others, and he'd built a friendship with those three people. And then one of them had screwed him over. The guy had gotten caught by the cops during a scam, and he'd rolled on Steve the first opportunity he got, just to shave some time off his own sentence. No honour amongst thieves, no loyalty amongst friends.

He'd been one of the first people in a long time that Steve had invested any trust in, having spent most of his life since his parents were killed avoiding meaningful relationships with anyone. And he'd been the last. The con man wasn't about to make _that_ mistake again. At least that was what he'd told himself.

But he had made that mistake. Kai had taken him on and given him a job, and had seemed like a decent guy. But as it turns out, even he wasn't to be trusted. His kindness had only been to benefit himself, seeing his new employee as a resource to exploit... and maybe that was some sort of universal justice? Being used just like he had used others, deceived just like he had deceived.

Steve had done some shit in his life, and he'd always told himself that he was just doing what he needed to do to survive. He'd been dealt a bad hand early on, and the world owed him now, so he was just going to take what he could and screw everyone else. No one cared about him so why should he be concerned about anything? He began to stop feeling the effects of his actions, only considering himself.

But now he felt it once more. All of the bad things he'd done, he registered them all… so apparently he _did_ have a conscience. He wasn't sure if it was a new addition to his being, or if it had been there all along, but it had made itself known not long after a certain blonde had entered his life.

Maybe Danny had revived the withered excuse for a soul in him, or maybe he'd been given a part of the detective's own, he couldn't be sure.

What he could be sure of was that he was now soiling that fragile beauty with his current actions, and he hated himself for it. But it had become about survival again. About pride. Because he just couldn't admit that he was struggling, refused to be a useless dead weight, even if that meant paying his way with money that wasn't clean. He knew it was wrong.

How would Danny feel if could see what his boyfriend was doing? He should go to him, tell him everything... but Kai would just make out that Steve was lying, and of course his lover knew better than to believe a con man over a business man.

No, Steve would just have to get through this, do this job for his boss, and work out how to avoid doing any more. Maybe he could find a job somewhere else? There weren't many places willing to take on a parolee with his history and give a decent wage, but he'd make it work. He had to.

One job, and then it was over. And Danny could never know.

That man was perfect and wonderful and trusting... and Steve couldn't understand for one moment what the blonde saw in him. The ex-con was broken and dirty and pathetic, damaged goods beyond repair. The only place where he'd managed to succeed and become powerful was inside the walls of a corrupt prison; out in the real world he was nothing. Worse than nothing.

Danny would see that eventually; he'd see past the passion and the sex, get bored of being the saviour, and then he would see Steve for who he really was. And then the brunette would be on his own again, it was only a matter of time.

He wiped his hands on an old rag and threw it on the floor. Then he kicked out at his toolbox, wrenches and screwdrivers flying. He felt cold and numb inside. Tired. Empty.

Wherever this soul had come from, he didn't deserve any of it.

Danny decided that afternoon that he had to get Steve to open up. Usually the best way to do that was to get him into bed and buzzed from an orgasm, that was when he was the most free with his emotions and stories. But due to a lack of action over the past three days, Danny was going to have to get inventive with getting his lover in between the sheets.

So he figured it was time to earn himself a bit of punishment.

When he got home, he made some lasagne for dinner, messing up the kitchen as he went and leaving ingredients and spills and pots and pans everywhere.

Steve liked things tidy, especially when it came to the kitchen and bathroom. Everything had its place and whenever he was around, stuff got cleaned up within good time; he cleaned up after Danny, usually muttering something about his untidy habits. The cop teased him about it a lot, but had been doing his best to be tidier for his lover so that he would feel at home after coming out of Halawa. He found the need for organisation endearing.

Right now, though, he wanted to get a rise from the guy. He unmade their bed and even tipped over the laundry basket in the bathroom and skewed the mat in there so it was off centre and crooked.

Call him childish, but if it worked then he'd be a very happy man to find out what was going through his boyfriend's head. And the more riled up Steve was, the rougher he got in bed... and the blonde was more than up for that right now, after being deprived of the contact he craved.

He put on a pair of board shorts which Kono had insisted he buy so she could attempt to teach him to surf, a tight white t-shirt which he knew Steve liked to see on him, and threw himself down on the couch with a beer to watch a DVD. He'd fallen asleep by the time the brunette finally came home at almost midnight, trying to sneak in and expecting Danny to be in bed by now.

The bleary-eyed blonde sat up on the couch and startled his housemate. "Hey, you…"

"Hey," the mechanic whispered, "Sorry I woke you, I... what the fuck happened to the kitchen?" He'd spotted the mess through the archway from where he stood at the end of the couch.

The detective remembered his plan and smiled proudly. "I made lasagne, you want some?"

"Did you have to _trash_ the place to make dinner?" Steve looked a little grumpy, but apparently didn't have the energy for anything beyond that. He just shook his head and aimed for the back of the house, pulling his grease-stained t-shirt over his head. "I'm not hungry, just gonna have a shower and sleep..."

He was gone for all of sixty seconds before he reappeared. His eyes looked a little darker now, brow creased. "When the fuck was the tornado, Danny?"

The cop shrugged his shoulders innocently and relaxed back into the couch. "I don't know _what_ you're talking about, babe."

The brunette hooked a thumb back over his shoulder toward the bedroom and bathroom beyond it. He'd already been in a bad mood, spending the afternoon over-thinking his way into oblivion, and now his irritation levels were rising further. "Did you do this on purpose?"

Danny's heart rate picked up a little more, thinking his plan might come to fruition. "So what if I did?"

He braced himself, excited, but his boyfriend just sagged and turned back to the bedroom.

"I'm going to bed," he mumbled wearily.

What the fuck? This was not what he'd hoped would happen. This was not Steve. And a tiny voice that had sat in the back of his head for the last couple of days and that he'd tried desperately to ignore once again reared its ugly head. And he had to know, had to ask the question.

Danny darted off the couch and grabbed the taller man's arm as he turned away, dragging him back to face him.

"Steve, what's going on with you? Are you..." he faltered, but then squared his jaw and crossed his arms over his chest. "Are you seeing someone else or something?"

The ex-con's eyes widened. "No! Fuck, Danno, why would you _think_ that?"

The blonde spread his arms wide. "Uh, let's see. Late nights, low sex drive, no emotional connection to speak of... I've seen it before with other people, babe. The signs are there!" He didn't believe it, not really. He knew deep down Steve was as loyal as they came, but Meka's words had gotten to him and he was starting to doubt his people judgement skills. _How well do you really know the guy?_

"There is _no_ way I'd cheat on you, Danny. You should know that!" He looked pissed off now, but not how the cop had wanted him. It wasn't the simmering kind of hot anger that led to sex; it was different, a frustrated, exhausted kind of anger. At least he was getting a reaction out of him other than bland indifference and weak excuses.

"Then what the hell is it, Steve? Because you're drifting from me and I wanna know what I've done wrong!" He splayed his arms out in a deep shrug, waiting for an explanation.

"You?! You've done nothing, Danny. It's..." The taller man trailed off, exasperated, and scraped his hands back through his hair. "It's complicated, okay?" He turned and headed through to the bedroom.

The Jersey man followed. "No." He said firmly, and Steve turned back to look at him. "No, that's _not_ okay. You don't just get to say 'it's complicated' and walk away, it's not good enough!"

The mechanic snapped. "Will I _ever_ be good enough for you, Danny?" Steve's voice broke a little as he yelled that, anger and fear spilling out of his eyes, the emotions he'd been going through in private for the last few days attempting to breach the surface and leak through the cracks. He had to contain them.

The blonde stopped in his tracks. "What? What in the _hell_ are you on about? Of course you're good enough!" He reached out to cup Steve's face, but the brunette grabbed his wrist and pushed him back into the wall, holding him there with his other hand on his chest and his arm against the plaster.

"You're a fucking cop, Danny!" The ex-con shouted in his lover's face, the frustration and thoughts of hiding his activities from the man now finally boiling over, because no, he _wasn't_ good enough. How could Danny even believe that? "And I'm just a criminal. Low-life scum! Why the fuck are you even _with_ me?"

The blonde gazed up at him, stunned. He couldn't understand what had gotten into this man. He was normally so confident, a force of nature, but something had obviously been eating at him just like Meka's words had wormed their way into Danny's head. He didn't doubt Steve, he doubted himself, and that's exactly how the ex-con must be feeling. He didn't think he was good enough? Fuck that...

He brought his free hand up to gently slide over Steve's cheek, causing him to hitch his harsh breathing. He kept his voice soft and low. "Because I love you, you idiot..."

The taller man's brow creased, and he searched Danny's face for anything that showed contrary to his words, but those blue eyes held his gaze and spoke silently of love and trust and honesty. Fuck... he really meant it.

The next second his lips were crashing the detective's, and he closed his eyes tight and kissed him hard and desperately, pressing him again the wall. The Jersey man sagged against him and sighed, opening his mouth to invite his lover inside, and their tongues tangled in heated passion, trying to reassure each other and communicate their love. Steve moved forward and rocked his hips against Danny's, making them both gasp and moan.

He released his grip on the cop and tugged at his t-shirt, pulling it up over his head, their mouths only parted for a second before they collided back together again. Danny's hands were all over his torso, fingers grasping at his waist and nails scratching down his back to make him growl against the shorter man's lips.

"Fuck, Danny..." It came out as a needy whine, and he didn't care. Because he _did_ need him. All of him; body, heart and soul.

The detective shoved them away from the wall, not breaking their kiss, and they pulled at one another's clothing until Danny's shorts and Steve's cargo pants were falling to the floor, followed quickly by their boxers, as they made their way uncoordinated across the room.

They landed on the bed with Danny on top, and he immediately began his work; assaulting the mechanic's neck with his teeth, pinching his nipples lightly to make him cry out with pleasure, hips dipping to rub their hard cocks together as he straddled the taller man.

The room was filled with their combined gasps and breathy moans as passion took over and they had to show each other what they meant, how much they wanted one another.

Steve grabbed at his lover's hair and ass, pulling him down into him, needing to feel skin on skin. "Danny... oh god... need you to fuck me..." he gasped out, and the blonde raised his head from where he'd been nibbling his boyfriend's collarbone to meet his eyes, hair gloriously messy.

"Jesus… Move back, back against the headboard..." he whispered, not missing out on this opportunity, and then he was tugging the drawer open and pulling the lube out.

The brunette backed up to the bedhead and stuffed some pillows behind him, chest still heaving, and he spread his thighs with his knees up and soles of his feet on the bed for Danny to kneel on his haunches between them.

The cop drenched his fingers with the slippery liquid, closing his mouth on Steve's again as his first finger slipped inside the mechanic's tight ring. The ex-con moaned and locked his hands into his lover's hair as he began to own the blonde's mouth, biting his lips and invading with his tongue.

Two fingers pushed into him, stretching him open and pumping slowly and gently. He wanted that man inside him so badly, needed to give himself. It seemed like it was only with Danny that he felt he could allow someone that power while still remaining in full control himself. He trusted him - loved him - so unbelievably much.

One of his hands moved to fold around Danny's throat, squeezing lightly as he bit away from his mouth and along his jaw to his ear, taking the lobe in between his lips and grazing his teeth on the soft flesh. The detective made an indecent noise and used his free hand to pinch Steve's sensitive nipple again and then grip at his hair.

The brunette moved his hand from his boyfriend's hair to scrape nails down the back of his neck, and the Jersey man groaned and curled his fingers around inside him. Lighting shot up Steve's spine as his sweet spot was caressed, and he bucked and swore loudly.

Danny repeated his actions before pressing a third finger into his lover and pulling their mouths back together to wrestle for dominance with their tongues, both knowing full well that the ex-con would win, and relishing it. Steve reached for the lube and dribbled it onto the blonde's straining dick to signify he was ready, and still with one hand around Danny's neck, he used the other to guide that gorgeous, thick cock into his entrance.

The cop took it slowly, inching into him carefully as it had been over a month since he'd bottomed.

"Oh god, Steve..." he gasped and pulled back from the kiss, needing to steady his breathing as he pushed in all the way, burying himself inside his lover. They both looked down between them to see where their bodies met, the sight of the detective fully sheathed inside the brunette was glorious. Their eyes met again, so intimate and intense in their current state.

"Why the actual _fuck_ did you _ever_ think you weren't good enough for me?" Danny kissed his boyfriend's lips hard, following up with a string of pecks to his cheek and forehead.

"Danny, I..." Steve paused and refused to meet his gaze when the blonde looked at him again, so Danny grasped his jaw and forced him to look him in the eyes.

His voice was rough with the effort of holding back, full of lust, but insistent. "You, Steven, _you_ will always be the only thing I ever need... do you understand me?"

The brunette contemplated him for what felt like hours, the emotions running through his mind swirling and mixing and colliding with each other. Eventually he nodded, knowing he had to tell his lover everything. Knowing he _could_.

"I love you, Danny."

He sighed, relieved. "I love you too, Steve." And with that the Jersey man was drawing back out of him to drive back in, forcing him back into the headboard as Steve cried out in ecstasy from the sensations firing up into his brain.

Danny slipped his arms under his lover's knees, lifting his legs over his shoulders for a better angle, and gripped the bars of the headboard before thrusting forward into him again, hard. He hit the ex-con's prostate like a bullseye and Steve gasped and squeezed his hand tighter around the blonde's throat. Their eyes met again, and they couldn't break the gaze as Danny continued his delicious pattern of a slow withdraw followed by snapping his hips forward to tear a moan from his boyfriend.

He was gorgeous, dark hair sticking up at all angles, sheen of sweat covering his skin, intensifying the colours of his tattoos and accentuating the flexing muscles in his chest and shoulders. The way he drew in a sharp breath every time Danny drove up into him and how he gazed at him with hazel eyes full of heat under long dark lashes was beautiful, and watching his face added to the detective's arousal as the coil of his orgasm wound tighter in his belly.

The ex-con slipped his other hand onto Danny's shoulder for the extra support, massaging and gripping, nails digging into the taut muscles there as the shorter man used all his strength to hold their position as he fucked him. He was completely unable to look away from those hooded blue-grey eyes, golden lashes low and fluttering with the sensations rolling through him. The bed beneath him creaked every time he was pounded back into the pillows, and with the emotions running high he found himself reaching his release quicker than he'd thought.

One of the cop's hands dipped between them, stroking his erection with long, firm swipes and flicking his wrist as he reached the tip, and it was only a few seconds before he was erupting over his lover's hand and painting their chests with his cum, shouting Danny's name with his eyes screwed shut.

The blonde let out a long, wanton moan as the mechanic clamped down around him, and he plunged into him faster and harder until his climax rolled over him like a wave.

His wordless shout was muffled by the brunette's lips sealing over his, and he whimpered into his mouth as his body vibrated and tingled from the release, and the circuits in his brain stopped shorting out. Steve's long arms snaked around his back and he let the man's legs fall to the bed either side of him as he extricated himself from his boyfriend and pressed their chests together.

He could feel Steve's heart thumping against his chest at a speed to match his own, and he had to uncurl his fingers from the bars so he could wrap his arms around the taller man.

They let their breathing slow, pressing their foreheads together, and the mechanic's thumb drew little circles on Danny's cheek. The detective finally found the energy to move, and he flopped down onto his back on the mattress, Steve joining him to curl into his side and lay his head on the cop's chest.

They were silent for several minutes, just enjoying the heat and feel of one another's bodies, until Steve finally built the courage to speak.

"Kai is getting me to refurb stolen cars..." He screwed his eyes shut and waited for the backlash of rejection that part of him was still convinced would come.

Danny's brain was still trying to work out what he'd just heard, pulled from his blissful post-coital haze by something so off topic and shocking, he had to process it properly before he replied.

"What the actual _fuck_?" He wasn't angry, just confused as hell.

Steve leaned up on his elbow and fixed his eyes on his boyfriend, and they were full of fear at how the detective was going to react. He waited until the blonde pushed up onto his elbows and met his gaze before continuing, and then it all came out in one rushed explanation.

"That's why he's been making me work late. I... I should have told you straight away, but he said he'd fire me and make it look like I'd been stealing... He planted money and drugs with my stuff, and he said... you wouldn't believe me, no one would, and you'd drop me... and I'd go back to prison..." He felt like it was the poorest excuse in the world, but even as he said the words he prayed they weren't true.

Danny opened his mouth to speak, wanting to know why the hell Steve would do something like that, dip back into crime so easily after he promised he'd stay clean... but he closed it again, rethinking his reaction. Because, for all his confidence and dominance and physical presence, Steve was still vulnerable. He was fresh out of prison and had been taken advantage of by his new boss, someone whom he'd trusted... hell, someone who Danny had trusted! He'd known Kai for a while, using that garage to have his car fixed whenever it got damaged, and the place had been recommended to him by the HPD!

"Mother _fucker_..." The Jersey man hissed, and scrambled to his feet, rage surging through his veins.

"I'm sorry Danny, I'm so sorry... I understand why you hate me, but I can fix this..." Steve began, reaching out to the shorter man as he paced the room and scrubbed at his stubble.

Danny stopped abruptly and looked at him. "Hate you? No Steve, I meant Kai! He's the motherfucker! I'm gonna fucking _kill_ him for doing this to you!"

He marched out of the room to find his cell phone, bringing up Meka's number on the screen as he stomped back into the bedroom. But he paused as he looked over at the bed, because Steve was still sitting there, and hot tears were winding their way down his cheeks.

He walked right up to him, dropping the phone onto the sheets, and slid his hand under the man's jaw to make him look up into his face.

"Babe… why are you crying?" He had to fight to keep his own soft voice from cracking, because his heart broke to see his boyfriend like this.

The brunette sniffed and swiped the tears away, embarrassed at his show of emotion. "Because you... you believe me... I didn't think…"

"You didn't think what?" the cop pressed.

Steve shook his head as it filled with a multitude of answers to that question; that I'm worth it, that I can be fixed, that anyone could see me the way you do…

Danny smiled and bent down to kiss his lover tenderly and sweetly, seeing that he was finding it difficult to express his thoughts.

"You goof, I will _always_ believe you..."

Steve grabbed him around the waist and pressed his face into the blonde's chest, breathing in his scent. He couldn't believe he'd ever doubted his faith in that gorgeous man. He'd saved him already in so many ways, and he was starting to understand that Danny was never going to stop rescuing him.

"Thank god..." he whispered, almost to himself. Then his voice became firmer, more decisive. "I'll go in tomorrow and tell Kai where to shove his VIN plates..."

The detective snorted, thinking a little clearer now. He loved the idea of his man marching into that garage, tracking down his boss, and inserting metal items where the Hawaiian sun didn't shine... but it could be bigger than just one man.

"Hold your horses, babe," he grinned down at him, "Did he say he'd had the cars stolen, or is he working for someone?"

Steve released his hold and met his boyfriend's gaze as the man sat next to him on the bed and picked his phone up again.

"He said something about a customer... he doesn't say much, he's careful. But yeah, he's working for somebody else. And there might be more cars after these by the sounds of things."

Danny hit his partner's number and raised the device to his ear, hoping Meka wouldn't mind being called after midnight seeing as it was a case. His fingers and thumb brushed his lover's jaw while the phone rang. "Don't you worry, babe. We're gonna take these bastards down..."


	4. Up Against It

Steve closed the hood of the Mustang just as Kai walked into the warehouse.

"They're all done." He patted the metal, and watched as his boss inspected the vehicles.

All four muscle cars now had new paintwork, any damage repaired, and each one was in full working order with old licence plates and VIN plates replaced with new. Of course, each one was also now equipped with a homing beacon hidden inside the body work for Five-0 to track them down later, not that Alana needed to know that...

Steve was seeing how this undercover stuff could be fun – knowing that he was going to get one over on the garage owner definitely felt good – but he also knew it was going to be strenuous. He was now essentially a CI for the task force, and during their hurried meeting at the Palace that morning, they had requested that he go deeper under cover.

His boyfriend hadn't been especially happy about having to ask that of him, fearing for his safety, but Steve had told him he'd be careful, and the team had agreed with the brunette. That in itself was reassuring to him, and to the detective, but Danny had still placed strict rules on his lover, and the ex-con bowed to the man's greater law enforcement experience.

"Good work, McGarrett. There'll be more where they came from too, I'm gonna need you to do this again next week, we got five more cars coming in." The Hawaiian man dug inside his jacket and pulled out an envelope, handing it to Steve.

The brunette opened it and let out an appreciative sound at the cash inside. There was enough in there to ensure his way was paid for a good couple of months and take care of his debt to the bank, but he had to swallow past the lump that formed in his throat when he remembered he'd have to hand it over as evidence to the task force. Shit.

As per the plan, he acted as if he grudgingly needed more work.

"Uh, Kai... I... do your customers need anything else in the meantime, like... I dunno, I'm useful in lots of ways." He remembered Danny's advice. _We don't know who these people are or how they operate, what they might need. So be broad, non-specific, and make it sound like there's nothing you won't do for some extra cash..._

His boss gave him a suspicious look. "On Monday you said you wanted none of this, now come Friday you're asking for extra?"

Fuck, he was hoping this would be easier. And the wire he was wearing was going to pick up everything and broadcast it back to his lover...

He stared down at the bills in the envelope again and let out a dejected sigh. "You know I'm screwed for money, Kai... I need more, I can't afford my half of the bills... listen, as long as Danny never finds out about this, I can do what needs doing." He forced his eyes to meet the garage owner's and hoped his acting skills were up to par. "Can you talk to them for me?"

Alana stared him down for a minute, and he refused to flinch, letting a bit of embarrassment leak onto his face to look genuine. Finally the native man nodded, his mouth stretching into a toothy grin because he thought he'd got his claws into the ex-con. His fake friendly act returned with vigor.

"Okay bruh, I'll see what I can do. Meantime I need you out of here so I can arrange pick up of these babies," he gestured to the vehicles, "So you go home to your little boyfriend and I'll message you." He clapped the brunette hard on the back, trying to reinforce the message that he owned him now, and the taller man had to rein in his urge to punch the jumped up douchebag in his smug face.

Steve nodded gratefully and pocketed the money, making a swift getaway like he always did. He left as if he were walking home as normal, but less than ten minutes later he was being picked up on the side of the road by Danny in his Camaro, towel already laid out on the passenger seat for him and his stained clothing.

The drive to the Palace was quiet, with the blonde leaning over to squeeze his boyfriend's knee in a comforting gesture. They pulled up in the dark parking lot, not many people around after 11pm on a Friday, but they were convening with the rest of the team at HQ who had been with Danny in an undercover van near the garage, recording Steve and Kai's interaction.

The brunette went to climb out of the car, but Danny put a hand on his arm to stop him.

"What was that about your half of the bills?" he asked softly, making sure to leave any accusation out of his voice.

The mechanic stared at his hands in his lap. "I uh..." As proud as he was, as much as he wanted to look like he was dealing with life outside Halawa's walls, he had to be honest now. "I'm not earning enough, Danno," he mumbled, "I had to use my overdraft to top up my wages and pay my way... I have nothing left... that's why I did this."

Danny rubbed his hands over his face and sighed. "Why didn't you say anything before now?"

"What am I supposed to do, huh?" Steve asked, a little too sharply, and he had to school his misdirected anger, releasing his tension in a long breath. "I was the boss in prison, and now I'm out I'm... I didn't want to look like an asshole, like I can't contribute. I didn't want to rely on you..."

The detective squeezed his leg again. "Well you know what? That's what happens in a relationship, babe... you rely on one another, you hold each other up. I wouldn't have thought any less of you, Steve," He made eye contact with the brunette across the short distance between them, "Listen, I took you on knowing that I might have to look after both of us, that was my decision, and I was amazed when you insisted on paying half of everything. I should have known you wouldn't be bringing that in from the garage. But shit, you shouldn't have let your pride get you into trouble..."

Steve wanted to argue, but he knew his lover was right. His self-reliance needed some adjustment if he was going to learn what being in a relationship was all about. It was still new to him to allow anyone into his life, let alone be so open.

"I just wanted to make you proud of me," he whispered.

"I am. That's not gonna change." The Jersey man smiled at him, a big genuine smile that reached his eyes and made them twinkle even in the low light. "You're a lot more capable than you think you are, Steven. We can see that, and someday you will as well. Until that time, I will just have to inform you of that fact every day until it eventually gets through your thick skull, huh?"

The ex-con smiled and leaned over to kiss the detective, cupping his cheek, and Danny pressed his hand against Steve's neck to soothe him.

"C'mon Smoothdog, we gotta head inside and then get home to bed. It's gonna be a long hike tomorrow."

Danny was regretting agreeing to the expedition. He would much rather be at home on the couch; it was difficult enough surmounting the slopes that Steve seemed to take in his stride, and with a five year old on his shoulders it was damned near impossible. But he also loved seeing his boyfriend in his element, so that meant enforced physical activity and fresh air.

Billy was squealing and wriggling about, making it all the more difficult, but the blonde had promised his partner he'd give him some time alone with his wife and that's what he was going to do. The kid was sweet, and he got on with his Uncle Danny like they were actually related, so it was easy to babysit him. And Billy and his daughter loved each other too.

He looked up ahead to see Steve and Grace, hand in hand, just reaching the top of the ridge. It was a beautiful sight that made his heart do little flips, because seeing the way the brunette interacted with his little girl was unbelievable.

Rachel had been less than pleased at the idea of a convicted criminal getting involved with her ex-husband, let alone the fact that her daughter would be interacting with said parolee on a semi-regular basis when seeing her father. But even she'd had to admit, after seeing the gentle way that Steve talked to Grace at the barbecue they'd had, the laughs they'd shared and his caring nature, that maybe the fact that he'd been a con man didn't mean he wasn't also a good man deep down. He'd never hurt a child, that much was clear, and he adored Grace.

He'd proven himself reliable and capable with the little girl on more than one occasion. He'd collected her from school once when Danny was working late on a case, and the detective had arrived home to find his lover sitting on the couch painting his daughter's nails. It was probably the most adorable thing he'd ever seen, and the guy who had been yard boss in Halawa prison hadn't given a crap about how manly he looked because Gracie had wanted pink nails and her wish was his command.

He marvelled at how everyone could see the fluffy marshmallow that was Steve McGarrett under the rough exterior, even if the mechanic couldn't see it himself. Even Amy had been fine with them taking Billy into the mountains, stating that if Danny trusted him then she trusted him.

Steve had told him that the Hawaiian expression for 'family' referred to both blood and non-blood relations, and that's how he felt about his colleagues and their partners and kids. Their ohana had taken his boyfriend in without a second thought, especially after he'd told them his feelings for the man he'd met in jail. The group of law enforcement officers had received the ex-con like he was one of their own, no misgivings and no bad feeling about his past. Because they trusted Danny, and his ability to judge character.

He arrived at the top of the hill just as Steve was hoisting Grace up onto his shoulders, and the brunette began pointing out the sights from the mountain top and naming them for the kids, and also partly for Danny's benefit. He told them the names of the towns they could see, the ridges, the mountains and their history, and he was clearly enjoying talking about the island he'd grown up on.

"My dad used to bring me and my sister up here when we were little, about Grace and Billy's age, actually," he imparted to his lover a little later as they walked and the kids ran about ahead of them on the trail and squealed.

Danny waited quietly for him to open up, knowing he rarely spoke about his dad or his childhood. He hadn't heard much about the subject since they'd been in isolation for a week in prison, and spoke through the hidden grate between their rooms.

"He was a good guy, I guess. He loved us, he just wasn't great at showing it. He wanted me to go into the Navy, wanted so many good things for us... but he wasn't one to show affection much," he looked softly at the blonde and slipped his hand around his waist to draw them together as they walked, "That's what I like about you, Danno. You're not afraid to show who you are, to be a great dad with Grace. You share all your emotions and wear them on your sleeve, and you don't care what anyone else thinks..."

"Yeah, but I hardly see her," the detective stared down at his feet, pretending to look out for trip hazards when in fact he was just feeling guilty about his daughter.

"That's not what it's all about..." The taller man reassured him, "Part of that's the job, y'know. But you're working to keep her world safe. It's long and unpredictable hours, being a cop, and I understand that about my dad now I can look back on it with a fresh perspective. And partly it's the situation with Rachel and Stan, which is something else you handle as well as you can... but when you _are_ with Gracie, you're so fantastic... That's the important bit. She loves you."

Danny had to clear his throat, because hearing all this from the man he loved made his heart want to just give out. "I uh... Thank you..."

Steve stopped them in their tracks and turned the cop to face him while the children ran about in the grass, placing his hands gently on Danny's hips.

"Hey, I mean it. You're amazing, do you know that? You help people. You babysit just so your partner can get some private time with his wife, you take on idiot ex-criminals who can't look after themselves... you're such a good man, Danny..."

The shorter man smiled up at his boyfriend. "Don't make me sound so selfless, Meka will owe me for carting Billy off for the day, and as for my idiot criminal? Well I get _this_ , don't I?" He looped his arms around the mechanic's back and squeezed them close.

Steve grinned at him. "Oh yeah, you definitely get this..." He leaned down and gently kissed the blonde, their lips meeting in a sweet, slow dance of promise while the wind teased and messed with their hair.

Steve was pretty sure they were currently acting out a scene from some sappy romantic film or book, but he loved it. He'd never given his heart to anyone before, never trusted anyone with something so personal and important. He protected himself from everyone, because like he'd once said to Danny, if he never opened himself up then no one would ever be able to hurt him. That was the way he'd always operated.

And then this loudmouth blonde ha'ole had shown up and taken a sledgehammer to all of his carefully constructed walls, finding his way inside just by being the man he was. The man Steve needed.

They were each other's yin and yang, day and night, sunshine and shadow; one simply having no meaning without the other. Danny was a cop, open with his emotions and outgoing, while Steve was a thief, closed off and private. They complemented each other perfectly, and Steve's innate need to dominate sexually was met perfectly in the middle by Danny's desire to be submissive.

He couldn't keep up his barriers when it came to that man, but he didn't need them, because he knew that he didn't have to worry about getting hurt.

"Eew!"

They broke apart to look down and see Billy staring up at them with an expression of vague disgust on his face. Five year olds didn't really get relationships, even hand holding was stupid as far as they were concerned.

"Why are you kissing Uncle Danno?" He asked Steve curiously. The boy had picked up Grace's nickname for her father pretty quickly about a year ago, and it had become combined with Uncle Danny to become a mix of the two.

The young girl came up behind him and smiled up at the two men. "Uncle Steve is Danno's boyfriend, Billy. They're allowed to kiss!"

She'd cottoned on to the two of them pretty quickly after meeting her dad's new 'friend'. She was intelligent, and good at reading people just like Danny, so when they'd decided to sit her down to have 'the talk' about a month ago, she'd interrupted their embarrassed stuttering about same-sex couples and told them she knew they were in love, that she didn't care that they were both boys or that her dad was seeing someone new, she just liked to see them happy, and could she have a strawberry shave ice, please? She was a very mature nine year old, and Danny was constantly amazed by his little angel. She'd got her shave ice and a day at the beach with her Danno and Uncle Steve, and he'd almost died from and overload of pride.

"Oh okay," Billy shrugged and wandered away again, unfazed.

Danny ruffled his daughter's hair while Steve pulled out his cell phone when it vibrated.

 _Meeting at 10am Monday for the overtime. 9.45am my office. Kai._

He showed the message to his boyfriend who grumbled to himself, still angry at the garage owner for trying to use his Steve like that.

"I'll call the team later and we'll discuss what we can do, but we shouldn't have to wire you up. Chin's been going on about laser bugging or something? God knows... anyway, you'll be fine." He squeezed the mechanic again and they followed the kids back down the trail.

Steve stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I just feel like something's gonna go wrong. What if I screw this up?"

"Babe, honestly. Just think of it like one of your cons. You've done it before. Just get yourself into the mindset before you head out on Monday morning, and it'll all be fine." The blonde nudged him in the ribs, light-heartedly.

The mechanic nodded. Danny was right, he simply had to think of it like one of his jobs. He was just afraid, because this one involved his boyfriend and the man's friends, and it would tear him up if anyone got hurt.

They spent the evening cooking with the kids and watching movies, before tucking them in for a sleepover in Grace's room and snuggling together on the couch to eat the remainder of the popcorn and absorb each other's presence. There was a low-key make out session, but nothing too heavy with the children in the house, and when they eventually went to bed they kept themselves decidedly PG rated.

On Sunday when they dropped Billy back home, a very cheerful-looking Meka greeted them at the door. He thanked Danny, then Steve, then Danny again, because he and Amy had certainly made the most of their privacy.

"I take back _everything_ I said about married life, bruh," he grinned at his partner, waving them off.

They took Grace to the beach in the afternoon, and Steve promised to teach her how to surf, much to Danny's chagrin. He really didn't trust the ocean, but if anyone was going to be capable of looking after his little girl, it would be Steve... That didn't mean he wouldn't keep finding excuses for them to miss their lessons though...

They dropped his daughter back at the Edwards household at around 7pm, knowing that with the operation going ahead tomorrow, they would need Monday morning to prepare and not worry about organising the little girl's school run. She didn't mind having the weekend cut a little short, as she was very tired by that point and knew her father and his boyfriend had a big day planned, so although she didn't know what it involved, she understood.

Danny and Steve walked her to the front door, and the blonde went down on his knee next to her to give her a tight hug and a kiss on each cheek.

"Bye Monkey, Danno loves you," he mumbled into her hair. God he loved his little girl, leaving her was the worst part of his day.

Grace squeezed him and leaned back so she could see his face. "Love you too, Danno."

Steve crouched down next to them on the doorstep and reached his arms out to the young girl. "See you soon, Gracie," he smiled as she leaned into his embrace as well.

She gave him a little peck on his cheek. "Love you, Uncle Steve."

And then she was dashing inside the house, leaving the two men on the doorstep with dumbfounded expressions. The brunette looked over at his boyfriend. "Did she just say... did she just tell me she loved me?"

The cop was grinning like a loon. "Yes. Yes, she did."

He rose to his feet and held his hand out of the ex-con to help him stand, and as they walked back to the car he slipped his hand around the taller man's waist and pulled him in close to bump hips. If things got any more perfect, Danny was pretty sure he was just going to die right there and then.

Steve was stunned, still trying trying to work out what he'd done in his life to deserve this beautiful family. His lover meant the world to him, and his daughter had always been the icing on the cake as far as the mechanic was concerned. She was intelligent, sweet and good-natured, just like her dad, and for someone as innocent as Grace to see enough good in him to decide she loved him? It proved there was hope for anyone.

Once in the Camaro, the detective called his team one by one on the speakerphone and suggested they meet up to go over the plans once more, simply because he was nervous and wanted to ensure nothing went wrong. He dialled Meka first, who outright refused unless said meeting was at Sidestreets, and Steve couldn't help but smile at the Hawaiian man's obvious attempts to get his partner to chill out.

So Sidestreets it was.

"Man, I'd love to say it was like some buddy cop movie, like we were exact opposites and we got paired off and drove each other nuts? But nah, we hit it off from the start, right bud?" Meka grinned at his partner across the table in the booth they'd commandeered in the bar and clinked the neck of his bottle against Danny's.

The blonde smiled and nodded his agreement, but tilted his head a little as he shrugged. "Well yeah, for the most part... aside from you griping about the way I dress and calling me a ha'ole, we got along great."

His partner laughed. "But you _are_ a ha'ole, bruh! That's not a bad thing, I liked that you had fresh eyes."

Kono snorted. "And you _do_ dress weird, boss..."

Chin laughed and mimed adjusting a tie around his neck, making the others giggle.

The Five-0 leader put his hands up playfully. "Alright alright, this isn't 'bitch about Danny night' y'know!" he grumbled, but he couldn't hide the smile under the biting comment.

They'd begun the night going over the plan for the next day, and then Kono had started off the drinking by buying in a round for everyone. That had been five drinks ago each, with none of the friends at all against staying for more, wanting to revel in their odd little family.

Steve tightened the arm that was wrapped around his lover's back and squeezed his waist warmly. It felt wonderful to be in the company of the task force, especially when the drink was flowing because that meant everyone was relaxing and allowing themselves to unwind. The conversation always got entertaining, usually at Danny's expense, when the ohana had consumed enough alcohol, though the Five-0 boss didn't really seem to mind the good-natured ribbing, and it just went to show how deep the team members' friendship ran. When everyone was free and easy then Steve found he could let himself just sit back and absorb the pleasant atmosphere of the group.

When the chatter turned to surfing, Danny pardoned himself from the team to go and get the next round of drinks, and Steve insisted on going with him to help him carry the bottles. The detective paid for five Longboards and the couple leaned back against the bar while they waited, looking back over at the three cops at the table and watching them interact.

"How did you manage it?" The mechanic sighed and glanced at his lover.

Danny turned his head to gaze at him curiously. "What do you mean?"

The brunette made eye contact with the Jersey man. "You gave me a home, friends and a family, Danny. I never had any of that before you."

The blonde shook his head and smiled at him lovingly, the corners of his eyes crinkling. "I may have taken you into my home, babe, but that's where my work stopped."

The bottles were placed on the bar behind them and the detective gathered three of them up, but Steve took his arm before he could walk away. "I don't get it."

Danny smiled again. "What I mean is, I didn't make them like you," he waved toward the occupants of the booth, "that was all you."

The ex-con followed his boyfriend's gesture and watched the three native team members. At one point in his life he would have considered them his enemies, him versus the law, but it all seemed like a distant state of being now. They were good people; Meka's loyalty and honesty, Chin's intelligence and warmth, Kono's feistiness and strength.

The blonde continued. "I introduced you to them, but _you_ made them your friends, Steve. Same with Gracie. You may not think that people like you, but there's just something about you when you open up that makes others want to get to know you. You act hard, but you're a fucking half-baked cookie, babe. You're a teddy bear, whether you want to admit it or not."

The mechanic could feel the heat of a blush rising up his chest and neck at the mere thought of someone thinking he was soft and gooey, and he tried to glare at his lover, but he couldn't quite manage it. Because he should know by now that Danny saw past his tough exterior every time. Instead he leaned in to give him a quick, shy kiss before grabbing the two remaining bottles and leading the way back across the room.

As Danny settled in next to Kono in the middle of the bench, and Steve took his place on the end again, he grinned slyly to himself as he decided he needed to prove to his boyfriend that he wasn't losing his hard 'prison boss' edge just yet.

While they listened to Chin regale the group with stories of when he first joined the HPD, the brunette slid his arm back around Danny and leaned in close to his ear, letting his hot breath skitter over his skin while he spoke quietly.

"You think I'm a teddy bear, huh? Think again..."

Goosebumps raised on the detective's neck, and he began to turn his confused eyes onto Steve before startling when the man's other hand slipped between his legs and cupped his dick through his jeans.

He made a tiny noise in the back of his throat and tried to control the heat that reactively coloured his cheeks pink. Trust McGarrett to take his compliment as a challenge...

Meka looked over at him, noticing his sudden change in demeanour, but the blonde quickly disguised his reaction with a smile and a sip of his beer, waiting for his partner to turn his attention back to their colleague before throwing a burning scowl at his boyfriend.

Steve just flashed him his pearly whites and went back to pretending to listen to Chin. Meanwhile, his hand was still caressing his lover's cock, and he could feel it hardening through the denim under his fingers. Danny tried to surreptitiously prise his hand away under the table, but the brunette simply pinched the inside of his thigh hard until he stopped fighting him.

Keeping his expression neutral was going to have to be his main focus, the detective realised, and if he continued to try and wrestle the ex-con's strong hand away from his crotch then he was just going to end up drawing attention to the situation. So he placed both hands firmly on the table, one clutching his beer and the other palm pressed to the cool plastic surface to ground himself. He tried to focus on the feel of the cold bottle in his hand, the beads of condensation which ran down the sides of the glass and over his fingers, anything but the hot hand which moved over his thighs and flexed against his fast-forming erection.

Steve squeezed, just to see what would happen, and Danny squeaked, covering it quickly with a cough and a hand to his mouth. Meka and Chin were too wrapped up in their discussion to notice, but the brunette saw Kono give her boss an interested look before switching her attention back to her cousin.

The cop could feel pin pricks of sweat forming on his forehead and the back of his neck as he attempted to even out his breathing, his now obvious arousal stealing much-needed blood from the rest of his body, which luckily reduced the blush which had been creeping over his face.

Upping the ante, Steve leaned in as if he were just cuddling up to his boyfriend, putting his lips up close to the shell of his ear again.

"I'm gonna take you home and fuck you so hard," he whispered, smiling sweetly so that anyone watching them would have no idea of the filth he was uttering, "I'm gonna break you, Williams. I will screw you until you. Scream. My. Name..."

The blonde did his level best to ignore him, but that only made him want to push harder. His palm undulated against his boyfriend's dick and he breathed against his neck, quiet voice filled with dark heat. "Are you thinking about my mouth on your cock, Danny? Are you imagining me sucking you off?"

He hadn't been, but he damn well was now… Danny stopped breathing, because he could feel a whimper forming in the back of his throat and there was no way in hell he was going to let his team know he was being slowly tortured by a horny mechanic with wandering hands.

"Are you okay, Danny?" Chin asked, concerned, "You look a bit pale."

Danny nodded a little too vigorously and took another deep gulp of his drink.

"I think we need to head off, really," Steve spoke to the group and smiled, taking the pressure off his lover a little. "We have a long day tomorrow."

The two men opposite them made agreeing noises and began to gather their jackets and finish their beers.

Kono leaned around Danny's rigid back to catch Steve's eye. Her tone was hushed so only they could hear, and she bit her lip. "Oh, _please_ don't stop on our account..."

The flush of colour returned to the detective's face as he realised the acoustics of the booth with its high-backed seating had enabled the young woman to hear every word Steve had been whispering to him.

"Right, yes, time to go!" He shoved the taller man out of his way in his scramble for a speedy exit, gripping his boyfriend's wrist and hauling him across the bar without a second glance back towards his friends as he yelled "See you all in the morning!" He hoped to god no one had spotted the bulge in his pants.

Once they were outside in the cool night air, he spun and smacked Steve hard in the chest. "You are a fucking _animal_!"

The brunette grasped his t-shirt and pushed him into the wall of the building, pressing the entire length of his body against the shorter man's. "Oh, I think that's an established fact..." he purred, ducking down to nibble at the cop's earlobe.

"Oh sweet Jesus," Danny moaned and melted against him. It was Steve's best and worst feature; his knack for taking control and knowing exactly what to do, precisely how to disable the detective, derail his argumentative side and leave him defenseless. He dug his fingers into the taller man's hips and ground against his thigh, desperate for the contact.

Then he was being hauled away from the bricks and toward a waiting taxi. They'd opted not to drive to the bar, knowing alcohol would be involved, and the blonde was doubly glad for that decision now, because even if he'd had nothing to drink he was pretty sure that being this distracted by Steve would probably count as driving under the influence anyway.

Shameless as ever, the mechanic spent the entire journey assaulting his lover with kisses to his lips and neck that broached on the level of obscene, while Danny squirmed and sighed as he was slowly crowded into the side of the cab, and the poor driver tried to ignore the pair in the back of his vehicle and concentrate on the road.

When they arrived, Danny shoved some money his way with a hefty tip to compensate him for any embarrassment, and was pulled from the taxi and into the house.

His clothes were gone by the time he was thrown to the mattress, and Steve stripped himself bare in about three seconds flat, only to stand there and let his hot gaze drift over his naked boyfriend.

Danny shivered under the intensity of those hazel eyes, feeling his hard cock twitch against his stomach and his skin break out in goosebumps. The brunette had the look of a wolf about to devour his prey, and he knew that metaphor wasn't far from the truth as the taller man flashed his teeth again and growled deep in his chest.

He felt like he was on fire, the desire that had been building in him from the moment Steve had begun to massage his dick in the bar becoming almost too much.

The ex-con straddled his body and stalked over him up the bed, shoulders rolling and tongue licking across his lips.

"You're pure evil, you know that?" Danny croaked out, "That wasn't fair."

"I don't _do_ fair, baby," the brunette nudged his head to the side and nibbled on his earlobe, voice low and purring, doing funny things to the Jersey man's insides, "but you like it that way..."

The detective writhed as his boyfriend followed his favourite trail down the side of his neck and over his collarbone and shoulder to lick the scar he loved. "Mmm... that is true..." and then words were forgotten as teeth closed around his throat and he whined his submission.

He sighed and raised his hips so their cocks made contact between them, but Steve was having none of it. He wanted full control tonight, and things were going to be done _his_ way. He knelt up and placed both hands firmly on the cop's stomach, holding him to the bed.

" _Don't_ fucking move unless I say you can," he snarled ominously.

A combination of alcohol and being driven slowly insane by his lover meant that Danny really didn't feel like behaving tonight. He wanted to make things difficult for the mechanic, get him back for the torture in the bar, so he sat up and grasped the back of Steve's head to pull him into a kiss and bite at his lips, while his other hand pinched the man's sensitive nipple and ripped a sensuous groan from his throat.

Steve allowed the kiss for a few seconds before climbing off the cop and instigating a punishment for his bad behaviour. He grabbed his ankles and flipped him on the bed, bringing the flat of his palm down sharply on one rounded buttock. Danny yelped at the pain and tried to roll back over but the taller man had hold of his thigh and struck the other cheek even harder.

The blonde squeaked and grasped at the sheets below him, enjoying every second of his punishment, loving it when Steve got extra rough. He still struggled though, because it activated the animal inside the brunette, the hunter that had to have his prey. He began to squirm away across the bed, but the mechanic's strong hands were on his hips and dragging him back over the sheets, his teeth bit a hard, searing path over Danny's lower back, making him howl with pleasure.

The ex-con grabbed the lube from the drawer and straddled his boyfriend's thighs, and soon a slicked finger was forcing its way into Danny's hole. The stretch of the invasion was exhilarating, and the detective arched his back and bit down on the cover below him as Steve worked him open insistently.

"Ohh fuck yeah..." he moaned encouragingly.

"You're a dirty little bitch, aren't you?" Steve hissed into his ear as he leaned down over him. "You know, I'm pretty sure Kono wanted to come home with us and watch me fuck you. What do you think? You want someone to watch while I dominate your ass, Danny? You want people to see the way you like to get owned by an animal?"

The depraved moan which came from the blonde's mouth told him exactly what he needed to know, and he pushed two fingers into him up to the knuckle and twisted them to massage his prostate and make him buck against his hand.

He always wanted that man, hated it when he was unable to have him; like when they were out in public and he got thinking too hard about the way the cop's ass looked in whatever he was wearing, and he just wanted to throw him up against a wall and fuck him there and then, other people be damned.

He'd known that a little part of Danny liked the idea of that exhibitionism. When they were inside Halawa and Steve had told his lover how he got hold of contraband lube - a deal with a guard who obtained it for him in exchange for the brunette jerking off in front of him in his office - Danny had made a joke about wondering how much lube they'd get for having sex in front of the guy. At least it had sounded like a joke, but there had been something in his voice, something naughty, excited. But he'd never had the chance to follow up on that possibility.

A third finger pushed into the detective, preparing him, as Steve leant heavily on his back and held him to the mattress, and he gasped and moaned harder. While he wasn't sure if he necessarily wanted someone they knew to watch them, he had to admit that the idea of other people's eyes on them while they fucked twisted something low in his belly.

Then the pressure was suddenly gone and he mourned the loss of sensation for a second before his hair was gripped tightly, pulling a shocked yelp from him, and he was hauled from the bed.

He was shoved chest-first into the nearest wall, air pushed from his lungs with the speed of it, and the ex-con started to explore the bunched muscles of his neck and shoulders, biting red marks into his flesh and grazing his teeth down the ridges of the cop's vertebrae. Danny gasped and moaned as he was held against the plaster, the mechanic's strong fingers grasping his biceps and his mouth leaving a hot trail down his back with tongue and teeth.

The detective let himself be shoved and pulled about, revelling in the solid grip of his boyfriend's fingers, the slight edge of desperation to his movements, as if he couldn't help himself. Danny liked that Steve could lose himself like this, narrowing his focus to the feeling of skin on skin, and that he was the one who brought it out of him.

Steve's mouth fastened over the side of his neck and he nipped down the artery to settle his tongue over the pulse point and taste his lover's thundering heartbeat, and Danny reached behind him to grasp at the taller man's hair and bring him in closer to his shoulder, but his hands were seized and placed commandingly against the wall with a silent order to stay put.

The brunette gripped his boyfriend's ass cheeks with both hands and spread him open, widening his stance to adjust his height and placing one foot back for stability, and he steadily sank his cock deep into his lover.

Danny cried out and clawed at the plaster, pushing back against him and canting his hips back to take him further.

Steve groaned. "Shit you're hungry for me… you want me to fuck you so bad..."

"Yes, god yes!" The shorter man pressed his forehead into the wall, breathing ragged as he dealt with the fantastic stretch in his ass.

The mechanic reached around and took Danny's cock, running his grip down its length and massaging him as he began to pump through his tight ring.

He used the weight and pressure of his body to hold Danny to the wall while he sought out both of his wrists and pinned them above the blonde's head as he rutted into him, beads of sweat gathering on his back as he threw every ounce of effort into driving his dick into Danny's ass.

His other hand moved from his boyfriend's cock and curled underneath the detective's thigh to lift it high, exposing him and allowing Steve to fuck him even deeper.

Their loud moans echoed off the walls of the bedroom, and Steve gasped in oxygen and revelled in the feeling of Danny's tight heat enveloping him. He pressed his forehead to his lover's shoulder as he held him in place, and found a delicious pace that soon had them both writhing and panting.

The sensations of Steve's cock sliding into him and rubbing over his prostate, combined with being restrained the way he was, and the slow build of the evening's torture combined to make Danny lose his grip on reality. Every movement sent ripples of pleasure through him, and when the taller man's teeth started teasing at his shoulder again he couldn't contain the voracious groans that ripped from his chest.

The wanton sounds only served to encourage the ex-con, and he thrust into him harder, hips snapping against Danny's ass over and over. A litany of curse words and lewd noises flowed from the Jersey man's lips, each erotic cry going straight to the ex-con's balls.

"Fuck... Danny... God..." Steve's muscles thrummed with the effort of holding the other man up, but he pushed through the burn and increased his speed to hammer into him. He wanted his boyfriend to come, needed to feel him fall over the edge they were both dancing along, and clench around him before he could allow himself the release. And he knew exactly how to take him there.

Danny was gasping, face pressed against the plaster, his climax building at the base of his spine and nerve endings firing in all directions, and then Steve's mouth closed over his shoulder, teeth clamping down hard on the flesh there and digging in marks.

"Yes, yes! Fuck, _yes_!" His orgasm hit him like a freight train and he shouted and bucked against his lover as pain blossomed through the muscle in his upper back and translated into pleasure when it reached his brain. He came hard, long pearly spurts hitting the wall as Steve buried himself deep inside, the brunette's own climax rippling through him as his heat flooded into his boyfriend.

Danny was desperately trying to remember how to breathe, but soon realised his issue with taking in air was actually a heavy, tattooed ex-con plastering him to the wall and crushing his rib cage as he came down from his high. The taller man finally withdrew, dropped his wrists and lowered his leg to let him stand. The detective turned around, legs still a bit shaky, and grasped the sides of Steve's face to bring him down into a languid, satisfying kiss.

"God, Danny I love you so much," he whispered, smiling against the Jersey man's lips when they eventually parted, wading through the haze of endorphins and back to reality.

"I love you too, Steve. You know that, right?" The cop ran his thumb over the brunette's lips affectionately and gazed up into his hazel eyes, returning the grin with his patented lazy smile that made Steve's heart flutter.

The mechanic ran his hands up the side of Danny's face and drew him into another kiss, soft and loving.

"I know..."

Danny sighed happily, and took his hand and pulled him to the bed, setting the alarm on his phone before switching off the lights and placing his head on the taller man's chest.

Steve snaked his arms around his boyfriend and hugged him close, the post orgasmic high still making him feel buoyant and warm. Or maybe it was just the handsome Jersey native in his arms having that effect.

Danny took in a deep breath and exhaled with a satisfied moan, feeling unbelievably fulfilled and sated. He kissed the ex-con's chest, flexing his shoulder and loving the dull ache radiating out from the teeth marks he knew decorated his skin, and the similar sensation in his ass after being taken so passionately. He was going to be feeling the aftereffects of tonight for a couple of days, and by god was it worth it.


	5. Operation Con Man

Steve woke before their alarm, and as the world came into focus he slowly became aware of the day ahead of them and what it contained. He looked over at Danny, who had rolled onto his side and had his arms wrapped around his pillow as he snored softly, and he could see that the bite from last night had now blossomed into a bruise, stark on his lover's shoulder.

He settled in to try to doze again, but the nervous energy now building in his belly wouldn't allow for more sleep.

The mechanic moved onto his back and let his mind drift as he tried to distract himself from the impending meeting by thinking about the man lying next to him. He thought about last night, and the way he had taken his boyfriend up against the wall. The memories of it alone made him hard as a rock, and he pressed his head back into the pillows and stroked his cock, mentally exploring the detective's body in his memory. His broad shoulders and slim waist, that tidy little ass... Fuck, he needed him so much... He smoothed his palm down his shaft and sighed.

"Starting without me, babe?"

He jumped and whipped his eyes open, hand still wrapped around his erection. He hadn't noticed the cop rolling over, and now Danny was watching him with eyes half closed, slick tongue darting out to wet his lips even as the lopsided grin formed on his gorgeous mouth. His Jersey accent was thicker first thing in the morning, and golden lashes fluttered as he cast his gaze down the length of Steve's body, knowing full well what the ex-con was doing, hidden beneath the sheets.

Steve grinned at him. "I was thinking about you, I swear."

"Oh yeah? Tell me, specifically..." The blonde was more awake now, stretching like a cat to twist onto his side and face his boyfriend. His hand went under the sheets and his fingers began to trail over the ex-con's hip.

"Hmm... I was thinking about what we did last night... about your tight ass..." he grinned as Danny moved to hover above his mouth, tantalisingly close, "and I was thinking about those lips..."

"What, these lips?" The detective kissed him delicately, pulling up to meet his eyes only to come back for more, slowly deepening the contact until his tongue was sweeping across the divide of the mechanic's lips and Steve opened to him. The kiss was slow and languid, full of heat that stayed bubbling just beneath the surface, and the brunette hummed happily under his lover's attentions.

They eventually parted and the ex-con smiled that smile that crinkled his eyes and made Danny weak in the knees, but with his eyes glittering with mischief under his impossibly long, dark lashes.

"Yes, _those_ lips... but when I was thinking about them they were performing a slightly different task..."

Then Danny was rolling off him and out of the bed. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm having a shower. Maybe you can show me what you mean?"

Steve watched him walk across the room, sleep-mussed hair looking adorable, perfect butt swaying as he moved, and there was no way he was turning down a shower with that man.

By the time he made it into the bathroom, Danny already had the shower running and was examining his shoulder in the mirror, finger running over the purple skin.

"Sorry, I got a little carried away," the mechanic gave him a small, guilty smile.

The cop looked up at him. "I wasn't complaining, babe," he smiled back and reached up to pull him down into another kiss, "I like it when you put your stamp on me like that... shows anyone who dares to look that I'm yours."

Steve let a possessive growl bubble to the surface. "Oh fuck, why is that so hot?" he groaned, "What is _wrong_ with us, huh?"

Danny sucked his earlobe in between his lips and teased it with his tongue. "Absolutely nothing..."

The brunette closed his eyes and moaned quietly while the shorter man used his teeth on his sensitive skin, and then he leaned down to kiss over the bruise on his shoulder, admiring that he could actually make out a few individual teeth marks in the pattern. Their hands trailed over one another's skin lazily.

He used to love seeing the results of their nights together on his cell mate's body while they were in prison, enjoying the way it reserved Danny as his possession. It was animalistic, predatory, all about marking territory, and he loved that the detective enjoyed it for the same reasons. It was perfect. Mine.

The Jersey man hissed when Steve pressed on the discolouration with his teeth again, but he pushed up into the pressure rather than pulling back.

"What was it you said to me in the cell?" His breath tickled the hairs behind his lover's ear, "No one else has me..."

Steve closed his eyes again and whimpered at the memory. He'd said that to Danny as an order, not entirely understanding his need to keep the Jersey man all to himself at the time, not realising that the obsession he was starting to feel back then was, in fact, the beginnings of love.

His hands squeezed Danny's hips. "No one else has you," he whispered, before kissing the shorter man on the lips and guiding him backwards into the shower enclosure.

They both gasped as the hot water hit their bare skin, and plastered their hair to their scalps. They broke the kiss and Steve pulled back to begin his journey down his lover's body, but Danny was beating him to the starting line. His teeth closed on the brunette's peaked nipple and he let his head drop back as he moaned harshly.

The ex-con's chest was one of the detective's favourite areas. Hell, he liked all of Steve, every tanned inch of him was perfect in his book, but his very favourite parts consisted of his muscular butt, his strong thighs, those tattooed biceps, and his solid, unyielding pectorals. Most specifically, his sensitive nipples which, given the right attention, could lead the man to produce all sorts of heavenly sounds.

So he lavished the left one with attention as water cascaded over the skin, alternating between nipping gently with his teeth on the hard bud of it, and pressing the flat of his tongue over the disc of darker flesh to soothe the reddening skin caused by his bites. And then he moved to the right one, sucking roughly on the nub before flicking his tongue over it, drawing back to blow cold air over his pec and raise goosebumps.

The taller man was panting and moaning, each sensation going directly to his dick, and his hands kneaded at Danny's shoulders as he moved back and forth between each nipple in turn.

Then he was going to his knees, hands sliding over Steve's wet torso, gripping at his defined abs and flattening palms over his stomach, his mouth seeking out his other very favourite spot on his lover's body.

The mechanic relished the feel of Danny's hands on his stomach like that, and when the blonde's hot mouth closed around the head of his cock he moaned loudly and gripped his hair in between his fingers.

The brunette felt silky smooth and solid in his mouth, and he took him in deeper to marvel at the taste that was innately Steve. He swirled his tongue around the man's helmet, grazed his teeth on his shaft, licked and sucked until he was writhing, abdominal muscles flexing against his fingers. Steve tugged at his hair softly, and he looked up to make eye contact with the taller man.

"Danny... Fuck, I'm gonna come... not yet..." His pupils were blown wide with lust, mouth hanging open as he breathed deeply to centre himself, and it was so hard to resist just deep throating the man and making him shout the cop's name, but he could see his boyfriend wanted this to last.

He was helped to his feet, and the ex-con's mouth latched onto Danny's throat, teeth rasping over the two-day thick stubble. He was pressed back into the cool, wet tiles, as Steve nipped at his neck and elicited little moans from him.

The mechanic investigated every inch of skin he could find with his tongue, tracing his lover's collarbone while he pinched his nipples between his fingers, making him draw in sharp breaths. Then he was on his knees and dipping the tip of his tongue into the slit of Danny's cock, smoothing the flat of it down the underside of his erection and guiding him into the back of his mouth.

"Oh, Jesus Steve..." The detective couldn't tear his eyes away from his boyfriend, sucking his dick with the spray of the shower hitting his back and flowing down his tanned body. He looked beyond perfect. Their eyes met and he just wanted to get lost in that deep hazel-grey.

Steve deep throated him suddenly, and he shouted out and threw his head back, hands slipping into the wet brunette hair and tangling, tugging. The ex-con growled around him and he had to pull him away before he came, still not wanting this to be over.

Strong hands gripped his hips and pulled him down to straddle Steve's thighs, and Danny used the grip in his lover's hair to immediately pull him into a hot kiss, delving his tongue in deep and humming into his mouth.

The mechanic picked up a bottle of shower gel and dumped a load into his hands, grasping their cocks together between them and massaging them in tandem. The Jersey man whined into his mouth as he felt his orgasm begin to build again at the base of his spine. This was glorious, but he wanted more.

He spilled some body wash into his own hand, reaching behind himself to push a finger into his own ass, all the while never breaking the kiss they shared. He was still relatively loose from the previous night, and it didn't take long to prep himself. He shifted his knees forward on the wet tiled floor, surprising Steve when he had to move his hands from their erections.

Their lips parted and Danny raised himself up higher, reached down to guide the brunette's dick to his entrance, and sank down onto him.

They both cried out, and Steve's hands went to his shoulders to give him leverage as he pushed up into his boyfriend, making him take his full length while he bit across his chest.

Steve could feel a low pressure building in his belly, knowing his was close, and one hand went back between them to pump Danny's cock as he rode his lover slowly, tension thrumming in his muscles. Their eyes met again and they couldn't look away as the blonde rose and lowered himself over and over, taking them both to the edge.

"Steve, fuck... 'M gonna..." His climax crashed over him like a wave of heat and he shouted wordlessly, the fingers that had gone back into his boyfriend's hair tensing and pulling, his cum pulsing over Steve's chest and spilling over his hand.

The mechanic looped his hand around Danny's waist and raised his convulsing body once more to slam down onto his dick, and he finally released his own seed inside of him. Waves of pleasure flowed through his body as he pushed his forehead into the blonde's heaving chest and held him close.

The detective tucked his face into the crook of Steve neck, panting, needing to feel every inch of the other man's skin against his own. He didn't want to move from this position, quite happy to stay there forever with his boyfriend's arms wrapped around his back, fingers twitching against his shoulder blades as he processed his own orgasm, Danny pressing his lips to the brunette's skin.

Steve sighed against his chest before raising his head to kiss tenderly from the cop's ear, along his jaw to reach his mouth.

"God, Danny I love you so much," he whispered against the Jersey man's lips when they eventually parted the languid post-coital kiss, wading through the haze of endorphins and back to reality.

"I love you too, Steve. You know that, right?" The cop ran his fingers over the brunette's chin affectionately and gazed up into his hazel eyes.

"I know," Steve kissed him again, "But I'm just worried about today. Something feels off..."

Danny stroked his thumb over his lover's cheekbone. "Don't worry, babe. You're more than capable of this, have a little faith in yourself."

The met the detective's gaze again, his concern evident.

"Trust me, babe," Danny smoothed his palm over Steve's stubbled cheek, "it'll be fine."

The plan was simple. As they sat either side of the breakfast table in their boxers, eating the scrambled eggs Steve had prepared around the mess still left over from the previous night's lasagne, Danny ran through it all again.

"All we need are the details of their operation, some sort of admission of involvement, on tape and we're good to go. Our base is in the warehouse across the street, and we've got the laser bugging tech so you don't even have to wear a wire," he stuffed a fork full of food into his mouth and talked around it, gesturing with his hands and waving the cutlery about.

"You meet them like you wanna get in on the act, you talk until we have what we need. And then we move in and take them, and you get the hell out."

"I still feel like something's not right, Danno," Steve stared at his eggs like they'd offended him somehow, and then looked up to catch his boyfriend's gaze, "What if I-"

"You're _not_ gonna screw up, babe," Danny reassured him with a smile, and reached over to take his hand across the table, "You know what you're doing. This is just another job. You got this."

Steve smiled back uneasily, but nodded.

"Anyway, we'll have a bunch of HPD officers with us in case anything goes wrong. We'll march in there and I'll come rescue you're pretty little ass if needs be." The blonde have him a cheeky wink and squeezed his fingers again before releasing his hand.

Steve felt better knowing his lover would be nearby. He made him feel safe, it was one of Danny's many talents.

Once Steve was dressed in jeans and a black button down shirt, and ready to go, he went to find Danny who was in the bedroom in his slacks, slipping a tie around his shirt collar. He drew him into a bear hug, more for his own comfort than anything else. The blonde laughed at him and spanked his ass as he headed for the door.

Danny was nervous as hell. He had all the faith in the world in Steve, but he was more than aware that certain factors were out of their control. All the training and all the preparation couldn't account for a wild card throwing everything off balance – he had seen it in ops before and he would see it again, he knew that much. But he hid all of that and put on a confident face for his man, because that was what he needed.

"We'll be listening, babe. If anything goes wrong, we'll come get you."

The brunette left to walk to the garage and meet Kai before the client, safe in the knowledge that his boyfriend would be there if the plan went awry.

Danny gathered his gun and badge, knotted his tie, and grabbed his keys for the Camaro. He was due to meet up with the team at their surveillance point and gear up in advance of the 10am.

He sent a message to Meka to let him know he was on his way, and unlocked the car, unaware of the two men coming up behind him until the last second.

As he pulled his own weapon from his holster, the butt of his assailant's gun collided with his temple, and blackness took him.

Steve stood with his arms crossed over his chest in Kai's office, glaring at the back of the man's head while he talked in the phone.

The Hawaiian man hung up and grinned at his employee. "They're ready for us. You got a weapon on you?"

The brunette shook his head.

"Good, they'd take it off you anyway. Come on." Alana led him down the fire escape steps again and across to the warehouse. Two large men now stood outside the door, both with large guns hung on straps over their shoulders, and looking very much like hired muscle. They patted both Kai and Steve down thoroughly and, once satisfied they had no weapons or wires, they let them into the building.

The ex-con had been told by his boss that there would be five more cars for him to work on this week, but as they entered he could currently only see one, off to the side and covered by a sheet. In front of that stood three guards, and a Korean man who was quite plainly their leader.

While his men wore jeans and t-shirts under their weaponry, he wore a sharp, expensive looking suit. His demeanour and his stance spoke of confidence, and everything about him told Steve he was in charge. A business man.

In total there were around twenty armed guards in the room, plus the two out front and probably more at the other exits. Five-0 had told him to let them know as much information as possible without being obvious, and he had to hope that with being unable to wear a physical wire, that their laser bugging tech was as good as Chin had claimed.

Alana led him to the client and introduced them. "Steve, this is the special customer I told you about, Wo Fat. This is Steve, who I believe you know all about."

Wo Fat nodded and looked the mechanic up and down, taking in his relaxed-but-professional stance.

"Yes, Steven McGarrett. I've done my homework," his voice had an edge of superiority to it that came with years in the crime business, "Confidence trickster, thief, armed robber... did time in Halawa but got out early for good behaviour. I know all about your work."

The man held out his hand, and Steve politely took it and shook firmly. Wo Fat stared him down for a split second too long before releasing his hand, but he looked calm and centred, and Steve tried not to let his nerves get the better of him. That guy knew how to rattle people.

"I have to admit, unfortunately I wasn't in a position to return the favour and research you. I don't know much about what you do?" The brunette hoped this would lead Fat to talk about his operations, but the man remained vague.

"I dip my toes into many oceans, Mr McGarrett. I have to say, I was impressed by your resume and was keen to meet you. You did good work last week, and I understand you are looking to expand your role within my business?" He strutted up and down a little as he spoke, watching Steve the whole time.

"Yes sir, I'm sure Kai has filled you in. I need the work right now, and I am looking forward to seeing what we can offer each other, to mutual benefit." Being polite to this guy was not easy. He was over-confident and was full of himself, extremely difficult to like. "I'm a little confused as to why you needed twenty or more armed men to meet with me, though?"

Kai shuffled nervously at the small challenge, and Wo Fat looked at Steve sharply.

"Well as you say, Mr Alana has filled me in... can I ask, Mr McGarrett, since you left Halawa three months ago, have you been involved in any ongoing cons? Anything on the books currently, so to speak?" Something was wrong, he could feel it. Why would this guy be interested in what he'd been up to?

"I've been keeping my head down," he said, honestly, "Working hard and looking for opportunities. Kai surprised me by being the one to open a door for me, and I appreciate that. I hope there is more work that I can help you with."

"Yes, we certainly have more work. In fact, I'd like you to take a look at _this_ car for me, specifically..." Fat handed a set of keys to Steve, and trailed his fingers over the sheet covering the vehicle behind him, caressing the material, and then gestured to his men.

The brunette looked down at the keys in his hand and his chest tightened as he recognised the familiar keyring; it was a bettered old piece of plastic, displaying the logo and telephone number of a pizza joint in New Jersey.

Two of the guards grasped the sheet and pulled it away, to reveal a silver Camaro. Steve's heart rate doubled as he knew it immediately as the one that always sat outside his own house. Danny's car.

He looked to Wo Fat, then to Alana, and tried not to show the panic he was feeling, tightness in his chest. His lover should have driven that car to his HQ that morning; it had been in the drive when he'd left to meet Kai in advance of the meeting earlier on, before Danny had been due to leave and gear up with his team.

His heart lodged firmly in his throat, and he was unable to say anything as he tried to swallow the feeling away. But the Korean man was continuing his monologue anyway.

"There is just the issue of your association with the owner of this vehicle, Mr McGarrett. You see, Kai informed me of your relationship with a certain Detective Sergeant Daniel Williams-" he clicked his fingers at the guards, who went to the back of the car and opened the trunk, "-who is, as I understand it, head of the Governor's Task Force for Hawaii?"

The ex-con could only watch with wide eyes as his boyfriend was hauled from the trunk of his own car, wrists tied behind him and mouth gagged, and dropped unceremoniously to the floor by the two men. They pulled the blonde to his feet, and brought him around to present him to Steve, each holding one of his bound arms.

The mechanic had to concentrate hard not to shake with anger as he saw the bruises forming on his lover's face, the trail of dried blood which had run down from his temple, his ripped shirt and dirtied clothing, tie hanging at half mast around his neck. He'd been beaten, badly.

His ice blue eyes met Steve's and told him, firmly, not to let anything show. Even through the red mist that was rising in his brain, the brunette was amazed at how he and Danny seemed to have an almost psychic connection.

With one look, the blonde told him he was okay, to finish the op, and the mechanic promised him he wouldn't let him die. A whole conversation was had in the space of a few seconds, and Steve knew that he had to get them out of this, through any means necessary.

He remembered Danny's words to him that morning. _You know what you're doing. This is just another job. You got this._

He let the con artist in him take over, a mask of mild amusement slipped onto his face, and he relaxed his shoulders and pocketed the Camaro's keys. Disguise was everything, and ninety per cent of disguise was attitude. Hide the fear, hide the pain, just like in prison. Be the boss.

Danny watched as his boyfriend's entire demeanour changed, beginning to look like the man he'd met over a year ago in Halawa Correctional; cocky, self-assured, dangerous. The former prisoner crossed his arms and smiled at Wo Fat, and the effect on the blonde's stomach was momentarily sickening. But this was where Steve's skills came into play, and he knew it was an act, like it always had been. He knew his man had his back.

"Is _that_ your only problem?" Steve's eyes were dark and cold, but the smile on his lips said that he was in control.

The crime boss looked at Danny and then back at Steve. His expression was doubtful, a snarl curling his lips. "It's a pretty _big_ problem, I think you'll agree? You're quite literally in bed with a cop, a member of a task force created to deal with people like us... are you telling me this _isn't_ an issue?"

"No, it's not an issue, because Williams here is my mark. I _own_ him." Steve's confidence went a long way to hiding the tension he felt, and he tried not to glance at the detective too much. All he wanted to do was take hold of him and check his wounds and make sure he was okay, but he had to look as if he didn't care.

Fat crossed his own arms and cocked his head to one side. "Explain."

The brunette smiled easily and strutted over to his boyfriend, reaching out to curl a couple of fingers around his loose tie. "I met Williams in prison, I'm sure you know all about that... I knew that it would be useful to have a connection within HPD to use once I was out, so I kept up my relationship with him intending to exploit that..."

He prowled around the back of the two guards who held Danny in place, continuing. "Imagine my surprise when he became head of Five-0. It made my efforts all the more worth it." He ended up back in front of the blonde and reached up to slide a hand over his face, but rather than caress him like he so wanted to do, he gripped at his hair and exposed his throat to show his dominance to anyone who was observing. The he looked to Wo Fat and smiled. "It's a long con that will pay off in spades."

"You never said anything about this, McGarrett," Kai piped up accusingly, "In fact you've been terrified lover boy will find out what you've been doing this past week! Kept begging me not to say anything!"

The ex-con whipped around on his heel, letting his lover's head drop back down, and scowled at the garage owner. "And why the fuck would I tell _you_ anything, Kai? I had to keep up the act so as not to blow what I've got going on, but I was curious to find out about this gig," he stalked up to the man and glowered down into his face, "You said you were a great actor? Well I'm better…"

Alana glared back at Steve, but said nothing. He looked embarrassed as he began to believe he'd been taken for a ride by the very employee he thought he'd been using. Steve's sudden shirt from respectful and confident to dangerous and sneering had thrown the Hawaiian man.

Danny kept his head low; he had to because he knew his pride in Steve was threatening to leak onto his aching face, and he needed to play the owned cop. God damn, his man was amazing.

The mechanic faced Wo Fat again and pointed toward his supposed mark. "I know things about him, his secrets, things he doesn't want to get out. I have the leverage I need to keep him exactly where I need him. He's my eyes and ears inside Five-0, and he's useful on a multitude of levels..." God, he hated every word that came out of his mouth. There was no way he could look at his boyfriend now, the sorrow in his eyes would show and he would give it all away. He just hoped Danny didn't believe a word of this himself.

The Korean man sneered. "You said you had no cons ongoing."

Steve shook his head. "I said nothing of the sort. I _said_ I was keeping my head down and waiting for opportunities."

The crime boss looked him up and down, smiling. "I knew I'd like you..."

Relief flooded through the ex-con's body, his chest loosening. The man believed him, and if he could convince them of Danny's value then he could get them both out of there, or at least keep them safe until Five-0 could make their move. Part of him was angry that they hadn't already burst in – they must have known something had gone wrong when their leader hadn't shown up – but he also knew it was what they were trained to do. What _Danny_ had trained them to do. They were going ahead with the operation, getting the evidence they had needed.

But Fat's eyes grew cold. "Regardless, Williams is a problem, and despite your efforts I can't afford to risk him knowing about my operations," he clicked his fingers at his men, and one of them forced his knee into Danny's legs and dropped him to his knees. The blonde let out a pained grunt and screwed his eyes shut.

"He will be more use to us alive, Wo Fat," Steve said firmly, "believe me, having access to the task force and their information is an unbelievable resource. Just think what you could do with that." He tried to sound convincing whilst disguising the desperation tugging at his gut.

The Korean man pulled a gun from the holster under his suit jacket. "Mr McGarrett, I can tell you now that whatever con you were pulling here, it would be much more worth your while to align yourself with me. I have a lot of businesses, with many opportunities for a man of your calibre and skill set. Not just the auto trade you've already seen, but gun running, drugs… I could use a man like you, and I would strongly suggest that you do as I say."

Steve knew that it was far from a mere suggestion. It was an order. And as far as Wo Fat was concerned, this meeting would end of two ways: a dead cop and a new, useful ally, or a dead cop and a dead ex-con. And he didn't really seem to care which.

Then he was surprised to find the crime boss pressing his revolver into Steve's hand. The man nodded towards the blonde on his knees, just a few feet away.

"Kill him. We have a lot to discuss."

The bodyguards behind Danny aimed their own weapons, one at the back of the detective's head and one at Steve's chest. Every guard in the warehouse was on high alert, guns raised and ready, mostly directed at Steve now he was armed.

His hand shook as he raised the barrel of the gun to aim at his lover's head. He tried to see a way out of this, work out how far they'd be able to get based on which of the bad guys he shot first. Because there was no way he was going to hurt the man he loved.

But he knew with the amount of weapons pointed at him that he'd be dead before he'd even aimed at anyone. He could try for Wo Fat, at least he could do something good before he was taken out and end that miserable son of a bitch. His only regret was that Danny would die as well; the one man that deserved to live through all of this.

The crime boss, however, had reached the end of his patience.

"I can see that we won't be able to come to an accord on this..." He took a gun from a bodyguard and aimed it at Danny's head.

A gunshot went off, and the Korean man cried out as a bullet tore through his shoulder. Steve looked up to see Kono Kalakaua in the overhead gantry, sniper rifle in hand, and she was already taking out the two bodyguards either side of Danny before they could spot her to react.

The other two members of Five-0 were bursting in from either end of the warehouse in full tactical gear, along with several HPD officers, having evidently disabled the doormen. Meka shot a guard directly in the chest and waved the uniforms on past him, while Chin took on a man in hand to hand combat and had him on the floor and zip tied in seconds.

The brunette dropped to the floor, knowing standing in the middle of a gun fight wasn't the best course of action, and took Danny down sideways with him. He kept low and climbed over the cop, quickly tearing at the ropes binding his wrists together. The second the detective was free he was grabbing Steve's discarded weapon from the floor with one hand and the mechanic's shirt with the other, hauling him behind the Camaro for cover.

Danny pulled the gag out of his mouth and left it to hang around his neck. "Stay down!" he ordered over the loud commotion, gunfire exploding from every corner. There was no time to say anything else, but the look they exchanged said everything. _I love you. Be careful. Stay safe._

Then he was on his feet, crouching and aiming over the hood of his car at the nearest armed bad guy. He took him down quickly, but dropped to his knees to avoid a hail of bullets in return. He was glad he at least had a weapon now, but with no tactical gear he was too open a target.

The brunette gripped his wrist from where he sat back against the vehicle. "Danny, I didn't mean any of what I said," he shouted desperately over the din of the fight, "I made it up, there's no con, it's not like that!"

The Jersey man leaned over and gazed into his eyes. To think that, in the face of imminent danger with bullets flying everywhere, that man was worried that he might have made Danny think he didn't really love him… he was beyond lovable. "You goof, you think I'd believe that for a second, babe? You're not _that_ good an actor," he teased, and then kissed his boyfriend hard on the lips, "I love you."

"I love you too," the mechanic smiled back, and watched as Danny began firing over the hood of the Camaro again.

Steve crawled to the rear of the vehicle, spotting a dead guard on the floor a couple of feet away with his rifle lying over his chest. The team had told him that he was an undercover informant and nothing else, that if it came down to a fight he wasn't to pick up a weapon, and he'd agreed in principal because he wasn't trained. But the reality of the situation was very different to the concept, and seeing his friends and his lover under fire... well, he was damned if he was going to be a useless burden for the team.

Danny was too busy taking another bad guy out to notice as the ex-con grasped the dead man's foot and hauled him towards them across the concrete, taking his gun. He lay on the ground so he could see below the car's chassis and fired, catching an armed guard in the calf muscle and grinning proudly as the man fell screaming to the floor.

He looked over to see the blonde glaring at him.

"We're gonna have a little chat about _you_ following orders, babe," Danny chastised his boyfriend, but he wasn't able to stop the smile that tugged at his lips. He should have known Steve wouldn't stay idle, and he just looked so pleased with himself to be helping.

He focused back on the fight in time to see Meka being backed into a corner by two bodyguards, and his immediate reaction was protect his partner. The detective fired in their direction, but his pistol clicked empty, and he reached out without even looking to find Steve pressing the weapon into his hand, like a well-oiled machine. He rolled out from behind the Camaro to get a better angle, raising the gun and firing at the men attacking his friend. He took one down, and Meka managed to punch out the other one. But more bad guys were converging on his position and he ran to his friend's aid.

Steve observed his lover. He'd known Danny was a skilled fighter when it came to throwing fists, he'd witnessed that in Halawa. He'd been on the receiving end of Danny's right hook, and seen him take on a man twice his size, and then hold his own against a group of eight men armed with nothing but a pool cue and last a lot longer than most men would have. But watching him in a firefight was possibly even more incredible, because damn did he know how to move. He aimed as he ran, managing to take out guards even with an unfamiliar weapon and in flight.

But in helping Meka he was exposing himself, and Steve had a moment of panic before he realised he could take the cover to his boyfriend. He still had the Camaro's keys.

The brunette unlocked the car and hauled the door open, slamming the keys into the ignition and gunning the engine. He threw it into gear, looking up just in time to see Kai roll to his feet, blood on his shirt, gun in his hand and aim at Danny's head from across the expanse of the warehouse. The blonde was raising his weapon to fire at the man, but the Hawaiian man had the luxury of surprise.

The ex-con forced his foot hard into the gas pedal, wrenching the wheel and aiming for the garage owner, tyres screeching. Kai pulled the trigger and all Steve saw was his lover jerk and fall to the concrete.

The hood of the Camaro struck Kai half a second later, and the force of the collision took him into the windshield and over the roof. Steve slammed on the brakes, but the vehicle spun out of control and hit the large doors of the building with an almighty crash, and the brunette's head collided with the side window.

Black circles flashed in his vision, but Steve fought against the dizziness because all he knew was that he had to get to Danny. He silently begged anyone who might be listening for him to not be dead. He felt sick, his heart in his throat and his pulse thundering in his ears as he hauled himself across the front seats of the car to fall out of the passenger side door onto the concrete.

He tore across the warehouse, unable to even register where anyone else was or even if the gun fight was still occurring, because his laser focus was set on Danny and only Danny. Hot pain zipped across the back of his left shoulder, but nothing was going to stop Steve from reaching him.

The man he loved. Lying on the floor, eyes closed, blood pooling around his head.

He landed next to his unmoving body, grasped his arm and screamed his name, putting his hand to the side of the blonde's face where his fingers slipped through red fluid, hot and slick.

He could hear Kono and Chin shouting his name, Danny's name, but they sounded so distant.

"No, Danny, baby, no..." his voice was a hoarse whisper as he pressed his forehead to the detective's and let the sobs wrack his body while his heart ripped in two.

He'd been too late.

Half a second; that was the difference between having and losing everything.

His Danny was dead.


	6. Life After Death

There was gunfire still going off around them, though now only short bursts compared to the showdown earlier, but Steve ignored it all as he pulled his lover's body into his lap and cradled the back of his head in his hand.

Blood was soaking into the knees of his jeans and the sleeves of his shirt, leaking down Danny's neck from where he'd been shot, and he hunched over him and sobbed into his chest. He held him close and rocked his limp form, and cried for the love he'd lost.

He'd been too late. The man he treasured with all his soul and every inch of his being, and he was dead because Steve couldn't step on the gas pedal quick enough.

He kept whispering his boyfriend's name, over and over like a mantra, as if it would make some difference to the universe; as if the powers that be could see this man was loved too much, decide against taking him and give him back.

"I need you... I love you, Danno... please don't leave me, baby, don't leave me... Please..."

Danny came to with pain streaking through his skull. The rest of his body hurt too, but the overriding agony was in the left side of his head and echoing down his neck. He couldn't quite seem to grasp what had happened, but he knew he was lying on a cold, hard floor, and there was a lot of shouting and banging going on around him.

His torso was off the ground, resting on someone's knees which were under his upper back, and strong warm arms were wrapped tightly around him. Steve.

The taller man's hand supported the back of the cop's aching head, and his face was buried against his chest. And he was crying, sobbing into his shirt, whispering words Danny couldn't quite hear.

He tried to open his eyes, spikes of hot pain lanced through his head, and he groaned from the throbbing discomfort.

Steve felt vibrations reverberate through Danny's chest before the pained moan exited the man's lips, and the ex-con stopped breathing as relief flooded his body and made him feel light-headed.

He lifted his head from where his forehead was pressed into his lover's chest and his other hand moved from gripping his side to gently slipping across Danny's cheek.

"Baby? Danny?!" The pain and worry in his voice were palpable, but the blonde still couldn't find the power to peel his eyelids open.

The detective hummed in response and lifted his hand, feeling weak and uncoordinated, but even with his eyes still closed he managed to find and trail his fingers through the ex-con's hair, fingers shaky with the effort. He barely had the strength to hold his arm off the ground, but Steve was suddenly taking his wrist and kissing his hand, pressing the palm to his lips and letting sobs wrack his body.

"Oh god, Danny, baby I thought you were dead. Fuck fuck, oh Danno..." He laid the cop's hand on his stomach and went back to stroking his face, holding his head the whole time. "God, I thought I'd lost you!"

"Nah 'm not dead..." Danny mumbled, "Jus' headache..." He wasn't entirely sure what had happened, didn't care right now, he just wanted to sleep.

"Danno, can you open your eyes for me? Can you look at me please?" Steve's voice came from far away, the pleading tone tugging him back to the consciousness which was trying to leave him. There was so much ache and discomfort, sleeping would be so much better, but Steve sounded scared and he didn't want that. He'd stay if that's what Steve wanted.

He tried to pry his eyelids open again, but agony stabbed at his brain the moment light filtered through, so he screwed them shut and groaned again. "No, don' wanna..."

Steve hadn't even noticed the fighting had stopped until Meka and Kono were suddenly by his side, their hands going to Danny and checking him over. Chin was a few feet away, calling for an ambulance, and Kono was cradling her arm to her stomach, but she was more concerned with her boss than her own injury. HPD officers were gathering bad guys, the restrained and the walking wounded, for processing, but none of the four friends cared anymore as all their eyes were on their fallen comrade.

"Holy fuck, bruh..." Meka was examining the side of his partner's head, "Do even know how lucky you are?"

The blonde just winced, the idea of being lucky when he felt this awful was just a foreign concept.

"It looks like the bullet grazed you... there's a lot of blood 'cause it's a scalp wound, but you are one fortunate god damn son of a bitch, you know that?" He kissed his friend firmly on his forehead, "You stupid fucker..."

"You have a funny way of showin' y'love me..." The Five-0 leader smirked weakly and reached up to pat Hanamoa's shoulder.

"You know I fucking love you, idiot. But next time don't give up your cover to come get me or I'll shoot you myself!" He laughed, but his voice was strained, and the native man looked up to meet Steve's eyes, worried that the downed detective still hadn't opened his own eyes.

Chin knelt next to Kono and squeezed Danny's leg before taking his cousin's arm gently and examining it. "Ambulances are on their way, CSU are gonna do a sweep of the place and collect all the evidence... they're gonna take you three to Tripler and any wounded perps to Queen's Medical so you don't mix..."

"Three?" Steve finally tore his gaze away from Danny's face and looked at the older Hawaiian man, confused, "Who else is hurt?"

The three members of Five-0 stared at him for a moment. Eventually Kono spoke.

"Um, bruh? You're bleeding too..." She gestured with her unhurt hand to the side of his face, and the mechanic put his hand to his head and drew in a sharp breath when he touched the lump forming there. Dried blood covered his cheek. He was also beginning to register the stinging in his left upper back, just under the shoulder blade, and remembered the burning sensation as he ran across the warehouse.

He was pretty sure he'd been grazed too, stupidly running through a gun fight to get to his man. It turned out that maybe he didn't do a whole lot of thinking when it came to his lover, but he probably should have worked that out around sixteen months ago.

"Oh, I crashed the car..." he remembered. He'd been too wrapped up in getting to his boyfriend, thinking he'd lost him, he hadn't even considered himself.

"You crashed m'car?" Danny muttered, finally forcing his eyes open. Steve was hurt and he needed to make sure he was alright. He took in the bruised and sorry sight that was his lover. "You 'kay?" he asked him, taking his hand where it lay on his chest.

Steve nodded, but his breath hitched when he saw that one of the blonde's pupils was dilated and the other wasn't. He looked at Chin, who had spotted it too.

"Where the fuck are the medics?" he hissed.

"I'll go find out," the native cop was up on his feet and heading for the door before he had finished his sentence.

Steve looked back down at his boyfriend. "Danny, baby, I need you to keep talking to me, okay?"

"Somethin's wrong, isn' it..." The detective's eyes slipped closed again. They'd barely noticed his slurred speech, putting it down to blood loss, but it was now more apparent.

"Open your eyes, D, c'mon," Meka patted his right cheek gently.

"Tired..." was the only response they got, aside from an uncoordinated swat at his partner's hand, before the hand went to join the other one over his lover's warm hand on his chest.

"Boss, c'mon, talk to us," Kalakau squeezed his leg again.

Danny was trying to focus on their words, but his grasp on conciousness was slipping through his fingers like sand. That look on Steve's face had told him something wasn't right with him, and lord knows he could feel it... he was nauseous and dizzy, and he couldn't hold onto thoughts as they danced through his head and left as quickly as they came.

He could hear his friends, Meka and Kono, asking him to stay awake, but it was his boyfriend's pleas that he clung to for longest; his voice was solid and almost tangible, like he could wrap it around him, but the desperation and worried edge to it stung. He didn't want Steve to be afraid like this, but he just couldn't keep himself from falling away...

"Danny, baby, open your eyes. Come on, yell at me, I wrecked your car. Yell at me, c'mon..." Steve was desperate to see those blue eyes again, but the man in his arms went limp again, his hands now loose against the brunette's. "Baby?"

The medics arrived with Chin at their backs, and they began to check Danny over, moving Kono and Meka out of the way. Then the unconscious man was lifted from Steve's lap and strapped onto a back board, paramedics shining lights into his eyes and putting in IV drips.

Steve tried to follow them as they wheeled Danny out to a waiting ambulance, but they needed the space to work on and stabilise him, so he was told he couldn't go in that ambulance.

He felt numb, pulled apart inside, as his boyfriend was once again taken from his sight. His head was fuzzy, and really beginning to thump now that he was up on his feet, and he felt his chest tightening with fear. Danny's pupils had been uneven, and he didn't need to be a doctor to know that wasn't good. Head trauma, loss of blood, slurring his speech...

He bent over, placing his hand on his knees and trying to catch his breath. His pulse was thundering through his ears and a wave of dizziness washed over him.

"Steve, hey c'mere bud," Chin's hands were slipping over his shoulders and pulling him upright, leading him to sit on the tailgate of an ambulance. "Just breathe. He's gonna be okay, Steve, this is Danny we're talking about."

The brunette scrubbed at his face and focused on drawing oxygen into his lungs while the Hawaiian man rubbed large circles on his back. He still hadn't seen the damage to his boyfriend himself, only going by what Meka had said. The bullet hadn't penetrated Danny's skull, but he knew that even the force of a graze like that could still fracture bone and do damage.

His lover had been disconnected, his only moment of clarity being when he wanted to make sure Steve was okay. That gorgeous idiot, just wanting to take care of his boyfriend and not caring about himself... but then they were birds of a feather, because that's exactly what Steve had done.

Paramedics took Chin's place, helping Steve onto the seat in the ambulance and loading Kono in after him. They helped him control his breathing and put an IV in his arm to keep him hydrated, and he let them fuss over him, his mind constantly on the man he loved and how much he couldn't bare to be without him.

"He'll be okay, bruh," Kono's voice drifted over to him.

"People keep saying that," he replied, refusing to meet her gaze, voice hoarse and quiet, "but I won't believe it until I see it for myself..."

The young woman leaned forward and squeezed his knee with her good hand, her brown eyes telling him they'd be there for him whatever happened, and he couldn't help the tears stinging at his eyes.

"I can't live without him, Kono..." It was barely above a whisper, and brought tears to the Hawaiian woman's eyes as well.

"You won't have to. I know it," she said as firmly as she could, "he'll be alright."

The medics secured them both and readied the vehicle to leave, and Meka appeared at the back doors. "We'll see you at Tripler," he gave them a hopeful smile and closed the back doors.

But Steve was finding it hard to find that hope right now.

"You're so pretty..."

Steve jerked awake at the soft Jersey accent, eyes focusing on the man lying in the bed. He looked so pale, bruises covering half his face and down his arms where about a dozen needles pierced his skin. He knew the purple and brown marks were all over his body, but the rest of him was hidden by hospital gown and sheets.

But the blue-grey eyes that gazed at him under droopy lids were the only colour he saw.

He lifted his head from where it had been resting on his folded arms on the bed side.

"Hey," he whispered, running his arm over a clear area of Danny's arm, "when did you wake up?"

He'd been camped out in the chair next to Danny's bed since the moment his boyfriend had come out of surgery. He'd only allowed himself to get checked over because he couldn't physically be in the operating theatre to keep an eye on his lover, but he'd got a clean bill of health and discharged himself as soon as he could. It had been fourteen hours since Danny had been shot, eight since he'd come out of theatre, and Steve and the team had been there for every single minute.

"Jus' now," he smiled sloppily, "What drugs did they give me 'cause they're amazing..."

Steve laughed softly and pushed the blonde's hair which was sticking out from under the head bandage out of his face. "You're on a lot of pain killers, baby... do you remember what happened?"

"You... I... did someone say they crashed my car?" Danny mumbled blearily. Flashes of memory were coming back to him, little snippets on information, though his brain was slow to process them due to the drug-induced haze that had settled over him, muffling the world.

"Yeah, that was me, sorry..." Steve gave him a guilty smile, "but that's not why you're in here."

Worry zipped through Danny's chest and he checked his boyfriend over visually, eyes settling on the stitches in the side of his forehead now that he could see better. He raised his arm and stroked a thumb over the rough dressing, noting how the split in the skin almost reached the top of Steve's already-present scar which stretched from the corner of his eye to his jaw. That had been one of the first things he'd noticed about his new bunk mate the day they'd met in prison.

"Are you okay?" He asked, and Steve's eyes widened.

"Hey, I'm fine. D'ya wanna focus on _you_ for a bit? After all, you're the one in the hospital bed and I'm the one sitting next to it, so I think it's safe to say you got it worse than me." The brunette took the detective's hand in both of his, taking it to lay back on the bed and squeeze, figuring it might be best not to mention the stitched up bullet wound on his back quite yet; the less stress for Danny the better. "The doctors said I should get you to tell me if you remember why you're in hospital."

Danny nodded stiffly and screwed his eyes shut to concentrate. He could see a warehouse, Steve with a gun which he shouldn't have but looking so happy because he was helping, the feeling of pride at his boyfriend for being so calm and collected under pressure during the whole operation, and he'd seen Meka and his partner was in trouble, so he'd gone to help, and then Alana...

"That fucker shot me..." he grumbled, and opened his eyes again to look at Steve, who appeared distressed at the memory, but also glad to see Danny could recall what had happened. "Fucking Kai _shot_ me!"

"Hey, don't get yourself worked up baby," the mechanic shushed him and rubbed soothing circles into his wrist, "Kai got his comeuppance; he's in traction at Queen's and, from what I've been told, he's in a _lot_ of pain..."

Danny smirked a little, but then turned a suspicious gaze on Steve. "What did you do to him?"

The brunette had the conscience to look a little guilty. "Well, now we're getting back to what happened to the Camaro..."

The cop choked out a laugh and regretted it only slightly when when pain spiked through his head. "You hit him with a car? Jesus, Steve, that's some kind of karmic justice going on right there..." he snickered and winced, and his lover put a hand to his cheek.

"I know, I thought it was kinda poetic..." His smile was weak, and Danny squeezed at his fingers.

"Is everyone else okay?" He was almost afraid to ask, but Steve didn't seem one hundred per cent okay, and it had the blonde worried.

He nodded. "Yeah, everyone's fine. Kono's wrist got broken, and everyone has bumps and bruises, but we didn't lose anyone..." Steve was finding it hard to meet his lover's gaze, because all he could think about was how he'd felt when he'd seen Danny go down.

He wasn't sure if he would have been able to survive life without his man by his side... maybe that made him weak, but he didn't care. If he'd lost Danny, then for all he cared the entire world could have crumbled away, because he was his sunshine. And no one can live without the sun.

"Well I'm a bit fuzzy, but from what I can tell I'm still in one piece... you wanna tell me what's going through that pretty head of yours?" The Jersey man gave his boyfriend a gentle lopsided smile when he eventually looked up at him. His hazel eyes were haunted, and it made the detective squeeze his fingers tighter. "Hey, talk to me..."

"I was too late, Danno. I almost lost you because I didn't react quick enough..." The ex-con looked down at their interwoven hands and sighed, "I failed you, and I almost lost you because of it."

"I'm sorry, but you'll have to remind me when it was exactly that you failed me... was it when I got myself kidnapped and used as leverage against you? Was it when they almost exposed our op and you convinced them that I was your long con?" Danny tugged his hand from in between Steve's and pulled his chin up so he would look him in the eyes again. "Or maybe it was when you put Kai in his place and made him practically piss his pants? _Or_ was it when you got me another gun during the fight, and then ran over the man who tried to kill me? I can't quite remember, so you might have to fill me in..."

The brunette nodded slowly. "Okay, I see your point..."

"Do you? Because I'm pretty certain you _saved_ my life in that warehouse, babe. And don't you _ever_ think you didn't do your very best, or that it was your fault I got shot. Because that is bullshit."

Even lying in his hospital bed covered in bruises, recovering from surgery to his skull, Danny was still making him feel better.

He smiled softly, nodding again. "Listen, you need to rest now. But we're here to keep an eye on you." At the blonde's confused look, he gestured out to the room.

Danny finally took in his full surroundings; his team, his ohana, fast asleep and taking up his entire hospital room. Kono, arm in a cast and sling, stretched out on the visitors' couch with her head on Chin's thigh. The older man was sprawled in an upright position, feet up on a chair and head lolling back on a pillow which had been tucked behind his head, most likely by his cousin. And Meka using two chairs like a makeshift bed, head leaning on the wall and drooling on his shoulder.

The Jersey man smiled warmly. "Isn't it past visiting hours?"

Steve grinned. "The nurses said we had to leave, and Meka threatened to arrest them if they tried to throw us out again... looks like your task force holds a lot of sway around here, because the hospital got a call from the Governor to say we could stay, _and_ they had to look after us."

The detective smiled and closed his eyes, settling back into his pillows. "I always liked that guy," he squeezed Steve's hand again.

The ex-con smiled, and then he remembered something. "You, uh... you think I'm pretty?" he teased his lover.

"Huh?" The blonde creased his brow, but kept his eyes closed.

Steve smirked. "You said I'm pretty... twice. You _must_ be high..."

Danny opened one eye and smiled. "I would love to blame the painkillers, but it'd be a lie. With those eyelashes? GQ stunning, babe."

And then he was asleep again.

The brunette smiled lovingly at his boyfriend, and settled his head back down on Danny's hand to get some more rest himself.

"You think you're ready to catch a wave, Gracie?" Steve sat astride his surfboard, legs in the water, watching as his boyfriend's daughter perfected her board balancing skills on the calm ocean.

"I think so, Uncle Steve... but there aren't any..." She looked mildly disappointed, but she had enjoyed herself immensely having alone time with her favourite uncle (she'd asked Steve not to tell Meka and Chin about that) and the sad expression didn't last for long when the ex-con reached out to wobble her board and make her giggle.

"No, well I did teach Danno how to read the surfing forecasts, and I thought he'd got it. But he said today would be a great surf day, and there's not a swell in sight..." Steve was pretty sure he was on to his lover's game. No waves equals no proper surfing, no proper surfing equals no panicking father sitting on the beach convinced his little girl was going to drown...

Steve knew that Danny trusted him to look after Grace, there was no way he'd have let them go this far out otherwise, but the sabotage would have consequences. He smiled to himself slyly.

"Come on Grace Face, let's go find your dad and try to get him in the ocean, huh?"

They paddled back to shore, finding Danny lying on his towel in his swim shorts and baking in the hot sun. Steve speared his board into the sand with a thunk, casting the shadow directly over his boyfriend, who viewed him with mild amusement.

"Hey Aquaman, you bring my daughter back alive?" He smiled up at him.

As if in answer, Grace jammed her smaller board into the beach in a good impression of her Uncle, blocking more of the sun from her dad, and sticking her hands on her hips to match Steve's stance. The blonde couldn't believe how adorable that looked, and wondered if Steve even realised how much Grace idolised him.

"That's it, Danny, try and act like you weren't watching us like a hawk the entire time we were out there," the mechanic grinned, and jerked his thumb back towards the water. "We're going for a relaxing swim. Care to join us?"

The detective shook his head and sat up, brushing sand from his towel, only to have more creep its way onto it from the movement. "Nah, swimming and relaxing don't go together for me."

Steve knew about WMDs, he'd heard about them all the time in the news; nuclear arsenals and H bombs, missiles that could take out entire cities... but he'd never truly understood the phrase 'weapons of mass destruction' until he'd witnessed Grace's puppy dog eyes. And her father was currently the target of a full artillery barrage.

He watched as his bad ass cop lover crumbled under the weight of those huge chocolate brown puddles.

"Oh, Jeez... okay then, just for a bit..."

The taller man reached out a hand and helped the Jersey native to his feet. "It'll be fun... you remember what fun is, right Danno?"

The detective smacked him lightly in the ribs as they headed down to the water's edge. "Hush your mouth. I'm only doing this to wash the sand off me... stuff gets everywhere..."

Steve's response was to wiggle his eyebrows, and Danny gave him a disgusted look and tried to hide his grin.

The brunette watched his boyfriend as he strode into the lazy, low waves and splashed at his daughter in the ocean, lifting her up and dropping her into the water, moving out just to the point where his feet couldn't tough the ocean floor, but no further. It had taken a month or so, but the bruising on his body from being beaten by Wo Fat's men had faded into distant memory, and the only physical evidence of the whole encounter appeared to be a long scar from the bullet which had almost cost him his life.

It started high at the side of Danny's head, way too close to his temple for Steve's liking, and stretched back to disappear into his hairline. The way the blonde styled his hair back meant that the average man on the street couldn't see it, but the ex-con knew it was there; he felt it every time he ran his hands through his lover's soft locks, which was often, and it made him feel queasy every time he saw it. But it reminded him just how lucky the man had been that Kai wasn't a perfect shot... how lucky they'd all been.

Danny could have died, the team would have lost their friend and leader, Grace would have lost her daddy... and Steve would have lost the love of his life...

The non-physical effects were a different matter; the cop had woken from nightmares a couple of times since the incident, though they seemed to have more to do with being locked in the claustrophobic trunk of his car than actually being shot. Steve had been there to calm him and hold him close while his pulse returned to normal, but the bad dreams had begun to dwindle now.

As it was, the small fracture in the detective's skull was healing nicely, thanks to the small metal plate which had been inserted during the surgery. And the time he'd been given off work to rest and recuperate meant that he got to have a bit more fun with Grace, and a lot more fun with his lover.

Steve had been pretty busy though, getting the garage back on its feet after the previous owner was jailed for a good portion of his pitiful existence. Not just the car theft ring, but collusion to kidnap and murder an officer of the law and involvement in Wo Fat's operations had put Alana in a very bad position. With his injuries, he'd be in the hospital wing of Halawa for quite a while before going into general population, and Steve was almost sorry that Danny had cleaned up the prison so that vulnerable inmates were protected... the guy just didn't deserve that in his opinion.

Wo Fat had gone to a maximum security facility to rot, and his shoulder wasn't going to be the same again thanks to Kono's bullet cracking bone. He still needed to thank her properly for her timely intervention.

But he was busier now, and running a garage was not easy, but it was worth it. More money, and being able to decide his own hours once everything was in place, he could see a definite bright future. His plan was to take the only good thing Kai had done and expand on it; he would be taking ex-cons, fresh from prison, and giving them a new start in life. And every single part of the operation would be one hundred per cent legal.

But right now, in the present, he was also intent on making the best of everything. So he was wading into the water after his boyfriend and his daughter, and he was going to teach the man he loved a lesson about messing with Grace's surfing schedule...

Danny wasn't a great fan of sun, sea and sand; something that everyone else on the planet, especially this island, seemed to adore. When he'd first moved to Hawaii, he'd wanted nothing more than go back home to New Jersey, where the Christmases actually had snow and the summers were cool, and tsunamis were never something he'd had to consider.

But he was finding it hard to see the downside of the beach today though, with his boyfriend and his daughter having a great time and big smiles plastering their faces. He splashed at Grace and tickled her, letting the water cool his skin after being in the sun for so long. He wasn't about to admit it, but he had been spending most of the last two hours at the edge of the lapping ocean, keeping a keen eye on the two of them. It wasn't that he didn't believe Steve would be able to get them out of trouble if they found themselves in it, he'd more than proved he was capable of fast thinking, but he just knew he had a lot to lose; getting shot had been a bit of a wake up call for him about how fleeting life could be.

His little girl gave him a hopeful look. "Do you think we can go for shave ice after our swim?"

"I don't see why not, Gracie... what d'you think, Steve?" He turned smiling to his lover, but the man was no where to be seen. "Steve?"

He heard his daughter laugh as she continued treading water a few feet away. "Uh ohhh..." she giggled ominously. Then she started humming the Jaws theme tune, and the blonde only had a few seconds to wonder where a nine year old had gathered a concept of that film before a hand wrapped around his ankle and he let out an embarrassing yelp as he was pulled under the water.

He flailed for a moment as his body tried to work out which way was up, and then it didn't really matter because warm lips were pressed over his, arms slipping around him, and he relaxed into his lover's embrace. The kiss was gentle, but hot, and the salty taste of the ocean that leaked into his mouth when Steve pushed his tongue in between his lips just added an extra little element to it as their bodies pressed together.

Damn this gorgeous man and his sneak attacks. Danny simultaneously hated them and never wanted them to end.

They ended the kiss reluctantly, mainly because they needed oxygen to live, and Steve's hand looped around his wrist to tug him back to the surface.

He broke into the open air and gasped it in, Grace giggling at their suddenly reappearance, and he couldn't help the blush that crept up his neck. He threw a light punch at his boyfriend, catching him in the shoulder.

The brunette just grinned at him. "Sorry sweetie, did you ask me something?"

Danny's brain hadn't quite restarted yet, so he opened his mouth and closed it again, unable to quite remember anything before that kiss.

"Can we go for shave ice, Uncle Steve?" His daughter saved him by chiming in.

"I can do one better than that, Gracie. How about we try out Kamekona's new shrimp truck, huh? I'll buy us all lunch..." He smiled that heart-thumping smile at the blonde.

'Proud' was a word Danny had used often when talking about his boyfriend to other people, but he'd always thought it didn't quite cover his breadth of feeling for the man. Once the detective was out of hospital, and Steve had been satisfied with his recovery, he'd taken the opportunity to own the garage with barely a pause. His aims were high, his plans for the place ambitious, and it would be challenging... but this was Steve, so he knew he'd keep going until he succeeded.

His lover was unbelievable, and the man was just beginning to realise his own potential. His determination, combined with his intelligence and heart, constantly amazed the Jersey man. To think that a month ago he'd been sitting in Danny's car, telling him that he'd felt he was unable to contribute... well, he'd proven himself wrong with a vengeance.

So yeah, 'proud' didn't even cover it. Because that right there was the man he was determined to spend the rest of his life with. And wow, that was an intense emotion right there... before he could over-analyse that thought, however, Steve was continuing.

"We'll go eat, but only after the Animal Planet documentary, of course..."

Grace gave him a curious look. "Documentary?"

"Yeah, you know," a toothy grin spread across his face, and Danny immediately knew the man was up to no good, "When Sharks Attack!"

He ducked back under the water and Grace let out a sound that was halfway between a giggle and a scream as she suddenly disappeared from view.

Danny laughed and shook his head. "Menace..." he muttered. Then a big hand snaked around his ankle again and he managed "Oh for fu-" before he was pulled under once more.

"Why is there a rhinoceros in our driveway?"

Steve looked up to see his lover entering through the front door. He'd been planning to leap on him the moment he arrived home after his first full day back at work, because he knew he'd be frustrated from being locked into desk duty for the next four weeks, but he was a little thrown by the odd question.

"Huh?"

"That humongous blue monster in our front yard, where did it come from?" Danny dropped his badge on the table and started checking his phone for messages.

The brunette grinned. "Oh, my Silverado? Perks of running your own garage..." He stood up and walked over to his boyfriend who was engrossed in his cellphone, slinging his hips a little.

"Trust you to pick a beast to drive... suits you to a tee." Danny glanced up to see that the mechanic had silently snuck up on him, and he had a dark and dangerous look in his eyes. He backed into the wall as Steve advanced on him, and a tingle ran down his spine.

"I've been thinking about you all day, Danny," he purred, pressing the whole length of his body up against the blonde's and taking his phone from his hand to drop it on the table top.

"I uh..." The cop was finding it hard to speak as his boyfriend towered over him, "Yeah?"

"Mm hm, and so I came home a little early because I wanted to arrange something a bit special for you..." Steve dipped his mouth to find Danny's earlobe and take it in between his teeth.

The detective made a small whimpering noise and tilted his head to give the ex-con better access as he nipped his way down the exposed artery in his neck.

"Bedroom, now." Steve's voice was low and hot, and full of promises that made the hairs on the back of the Jersey man's neck stand to attention, as well as certain parts of his anatomy.

"I think that would probably be a good idea, yes..." he whispered hoarsely.

His hand was taken, and he was practically dragged through the house, managing to kick his shoes off as they went. When they got into the bedroom he was pleasantly surprised by what he found; hanging from the outer bars of the headboard were two pairs of black padded handcuffs, and on the table was a bottle of mango-flavoured lube along with the usual bottle.

Steve turned him around so his back was to the bed, his hand came up to curl around Danny's throat and the blonde closed his eyes at the growl that left his lover's mouth.

"Strip for me, let me see you..."

He shivered under the brunette's penetrating gaze, and began to undo the buttons of his shirt and slide his tie out from under the collar. Once his chest was exposed, Steve ran his free hand over the hair, pinching at his nipples, while the other hand remained firmly wrapped around the detective's neck.

He slipped the shirt from his shoulders and undid his fly, and soon all of his clothes were pooled at his feet. Steve looked him up and down possessively and licked his lips.

"Get on the bed."

Danny dutifully sat on the mattress and moved himself to the position he guessed his boyfriend wanted him in, leaning up against the headboard with the pillows at his back, and his arms outspread.

Steve shucked his own clothing and crawled over his lover, planting a kiss on his chest and then on his lips. He straddled the cop's hips and leaned over to first click his left wrist into place in the cuffs, and then the right, and he gasped when the blonde took advantage of their current position by leaning forward and taking the head of the mechanic's cock into his mouth. It hadn't necessarily been the plan, but he wasn't going to complain.

Danny flicked his tongue around the helmet and into the slit at the tip to taste his lover. This was a flavour he would never get tired of. When the brunette moaned and slid his hands into the back of his hair, the detective smiled around his dick, and sucked it into his mouth further, pressing his tongue to the underside and eliciting more groans.

Steve looked down on him under heavy eyelashes. "Fuck Danny, your mouth... so hot for me, so wet..."

He met his gaze and hummed around him, making him shiver with the sensation and the intimacy.

The ex-con trailed his fingers along Danny's outstretched arms and pushed forward into his mouth, his cock sliding easily towards the back of his throat. He withdrew to allow his boyfriend to breathe, and then moved forward again. The Jersey man relaxed his muscles and took him right back, deep throating him.

"Oh fucking hell..." Steve moaned and threw his head back. He gripped at the blonde's hair and began thrusting in and out of his mouth carefully, deepening the lunges each time until his lover's nose was buried in the curls at his base. He held there for a moment before he pulled back out completely, ensuring Danny could breathe and if he was okay to continue. "You okay, baby?"

The detective grinned up at him and tugged on the cuffs. "Oh I'm more than okay," he whispered, and Steve felt like he might come just listening to that rough, raw voice. Then Danny was licking around the tip of his cock again, and he shuddered wantonly.

He stroked the side of the cop's face as his talented tongue lathered him with attention. "Shit, how is it that you always manage to- ah fuck yes -throw me off? I had other- ohhh -other plans..."

Danny pulled back off him with a pop. "Oh yeah? Like what?" He was excited, he wasn't going to lie. Being with Steve was always a wild ride, a rollercoaster where the twists and turns never stopped, but that was on a normal day. Today he'd gone to extra lengths to arrange something, which had the blonde intrigued.

The wolfish grin he got in answer sent a tremor of anticipation down his spine. The brunette backed away and off the bed.

"Well I went looking for something fun for us to do, and I thought about the ropes maybe? So I went into the wardrobe to find them..." he walked to the cupboard and opened it as he spoke, and the cop watched him with interest, "and then I found this box..."

Danny gulped as his boyfriend pulled out a shoebox from the bottom of the wardrobe and waved it at him.

"Okay, I have to explain that," he rushed out and pulled a little against the bonds on his wrists, "I uh, well there was a _whole year_ while you were still in prison, Steve... and I was never with anyone else, but-"

He was cut short as the ex-con laughed and took a vibrator out of the box. It was a black latex affair, a decent size but slightly smaller than Steve, with a subtle curved shape and three vibration settings activated by buttons on the bulge at the base. He'd used it a few times while his lover was serving out his shortened sentence, because hey, he was only human.

"Well I guess I can't blame you, we all have needs right?" His smirk made Danny go a little red.

"I'm sorry, Steve..." He looked at his feet.

The mechanic walked to the bed and crawled up it, still holding the toy on his hand, coming to rest with his legs spanning Danny's knees. He leaned forward and cupped the detective's chin, making him look up. "Hey, baby, don't apologise! And don't be so embarrassed... I'm only sorry you didn't tell me earlier..."

The sultry tinge to his voice as he said those words caused Danny to close his eyes and moan softly. Soft lips pressed to his, and the kiss started slowly and then became dirty as Steve began to claim his mouth, tasting the remnants of himself there.

Danny felt the vibrator rest against his chest, and then it was slowly trailed down over his body, skating over his stomach and down his thigh, over his balls, and he whimpered against his lover's cheek as the man continued to bite at his lips and suck on his tongue.

The ex-con reached for both bottles of lube, and moved his knees in between Danny's legs. The Jersey native spread his thighs apart and hitched his knees up so his boyfriend had full access, and they finally broke apart so the brunette could admire everything he had to play with and lick his lips.

He smoothed the flavoured lube onto Danny's cock first, giving it a tentative flick with his tongue and drawing a sigh from the cop. Then he coated his fingers with the unflavoured stuff, leaning forward to kiss his lover again, letting him sample the hint of fruit on his tongue as he slid a finger inside him.

He didn't take long to prep after the previous night, and Steve soon had three fingers pumping in and out of Danny, opening him up while he invaded his mouth and nipped at his earlobe and throat with sharp teeth.

Then he picked up the toy and slicked it up, and the blonde couldn't help but stare as his boyfriend rubbed lube onto the shaft of the vibrator. He'd never thought Steve would want to do this; maybe due to a territorial thing or as a matter of pride, but he figured the man wouldn't want anything giving his conquest pleasure other than himself. But maybe that's why he was okay with this, enjoying it in fact, because he _was_ still in control, and he was still the one supplying the sensations.

He skimmed over Danny's entrance with the smooth tip, dipping inside him slightly before withdrawing, tempting and teasing him.

"Steve..." The cop whined and pushed his hips up as the brunette once again removed the toy without going anywhere near deep enough.

"What's that, baby? You want me to fuck you with this?" His hazel eyes had an evil glint to them, as he was intent on drawing this out for Danny, to make it all the more delicious when he finally came.

"Mmm god, Steve, please..." The blonde writhed under him, "Don't tease me like this, it's not fair..."

"Oh, I think it's an established fact that I don't play _fair_ , Daniel..." The mechanic smiled slyly at him, but finally pushed the dildo all the way in nonetheless.

The way Danny shouted out, closing his eyes and biting his lip, was just fantastic to watch. God he was beautiful, and he was all Steve's...

He kept watching the detective's face as he reached down to thumb the button for the vibrator, and the Jersey man gasped and jerked a little as it switched on. Low vibrations coursed through his body, and he lay his head back against the pillows and moaned. The sensation wasn't quite enough to build his orgasm, but it was extremely pleasurable and stimulated his prostate enough to let a warm feeling fill his lower body and tickle at his brain.

"Ohh fuck..." he managed, and then "Oh _fuck_!" as Steve's mouth closed around the head of his cock.

The brunette began to work him with his mouth, enjoying the taste of the lube and the light tingling that travelled through his lover's body and into his lips. He pressed his tongue up to the underside of the cop's dick and bobbed his head on him, grazing his teeth along the shaft on each retreat and loving the salacious sounds it tore from his man.

"Oh Jesus... Steve..."

He toyed with him until he writhed and whimpered under his ministrations, cleaning every drop of fruity lube from his cock, knowing the stimulation would keep him at a low level of arousal but not take him to the edge yet.

"Fuck, Steve babe, I need-"

"I decide what you need and when," the ex-con interrupted as he lifted his mouth off his boyfriend, "and you don't get to come just yet, baby. I'll get you there, but not yet..."

Danny whined like he was being tortured, but he kept his mouth shut and behaved. Steve had done similar things before, and when he'd bitched about it the man had just drawn it out for longer until he felt like he was going to pass out from the raw need for release. The orgasm had been fucking fantastic, but he didn't think he could wait that long today.

Steve crawled up his body and kissed him again, nipping at his lips, before getting into his original position. He smothered his dick with mango lube and swiped a finger across Danny's lower lip. The blonde caught it between his teeth and met the taller man's heated gaze while he took the digit into his mouth and sucked it clean.

"Oh god, look at you... so fucking hungry for me... you want me to fuck your mouth again, Danny? You want me to give it to you?" Steve stroked his cock and bit his lip as those ice blue eyes held nothing but lust and desperation.

"God yes, I want your cock Steve..." he whispered, and then obediently opened his mouth, waiting.

And if that wasn't the most perfect sight the mechanic had ever seen...

He slid his erection in between the Jersey native's lips, and he lapped at him hungrily, once again employing his wicked tongue to effect his own form of torture on his captor.

As a reward, Steve reached down behind him and pressed the button for the next setting on the vibrator. The resultant reaction from his boyfriend almost had him coming right there and then, as he pushed forward on his dick and moaned around him while his whole body undulated between his thighs.

He had to pull out, backing up to replace his cock in Danny's mouth with his tongue, the mango tinged with the flavour of his precum.

"Oh baby, I am gonna fuck you so hard..." he hissed against the detective's ear, before kissing down his neck and nibbling over his pulse point.

He used his tongue and teeth on every inch of the man's torso, until the cop was wriggling and bucking under him, on the edge of a building orgasm but unable to find the pull to take him over the edge. Then the vibrator was suddenly removed and Danny cried out at the loss of stimulation.

"Oh fucking hell, Steven!" He tore his eyes open in time to see his lover, strong shoulders and tattooed biceps flexing, pushing the vibrator into his own ass, having prepped himself earlier. He threw his head back and moaned seductively. He was so beautiful. "Oh my god," Danny whispered, if only to himself.

Those dark eyes fell on his again, and he could see the ravenous beast lurking behind them as Steve hoisted his legs up and wasted no time in gliding his cock into Danny's waiting hole.

"Oh Jesus!" Danny yelled at the stretch and wrapped his legs around the ex-con's waist, pulling him completely inside.

Steve growled and reached back, flicking the toy up to level three, and practically howled at the need to pound into his boyfriend, the vibrations travelling straight through him and into the blonde below him. Their frenzied gasps and moans filled the room, mixing together and combining exquisitely, muscles straining and fingers digging into flesh and handcuffs alike.

They had both been held back for so long, burning tension and basic carnal need coiling inside them into a tightly wound spring, that it only took a few powerful thrusts from Steve to take them both to completion.

Danny screamed his lover's name and pulled on his cuffs as a protracted shudder wracked his body and he came hard, long pearly spurts of cum spilling over his abs and chest.

The feeling of his boyfriend squeezing around his cock in waves tore Steve's orgasm from him, the vibrator seeming to increase the power of his climax, and he jerked into Danny again as he released his load deep inside him and cried out.

When he had enough sense to, he reached back and switched off the dildo, taking it out of himself and dropping it to the bed, before letting himself fall to the side and curl into his panting lover. They took a few minutes to recover, having to concentrate on regulating their breathing and stilling their twitching muscles.

Danny was the first to speak. "Jesus fucking Christ..."

Steve chuckled. "I can definitely see why you used that thing..." He gestured to the vibrator on the bed.

"Oh, it was never _that_ good!" The blonde laughed, "Because seriously... wow..."

The mechanic leaned up on his elbows and kissed the detective. "Mmm you liked it, huh?"

"Oh god yeah, babe... I mean, I don't think I'd ever have asked for it, I don't know if maybe you'd feel... insulted or something?" He shrugged as best he could with his wrists still bound to the bedhead, "I dunno, it can be a sensitive thing..."

Steve snorted. "Oh, you think I'd feel threatened by a sex toy? I think I'm a bit more qualified at getting you off than that thing..."

"Oh god yes, I forgot I even had it! The real thing is much better..." He leaned forward to kiss the brunette, but the taller man backed away with a grin and climbed off the bed. "Aw come on, I was being nice!"

Steve's grin widened. "I think I'm gonna go find something to eat, maybe order take out?" He headed for the door.

"Oh no you don't, come back and unlock me!" Danny glowed at him. "Don't you dare!"

But the mechanic was already leaving the room. "Now where's that pizza menu..."

"Steve! Steven!" The cop yelled after his lover. "I swear to god, you won't get any more sex if you don't let me go! _Steven_!"

The ex-con reappeared with a paper bag in his hand. "You're just giving me more reason to leave you tied up, you know... This way I can have you whenever I like..." He climbed back onto the bed and thew his leg astride Danny's hips, opening the bag and taking out a mini coco puff, sliding it between his boyfriend's lips. He'd bought them earlier on his way home from work, knowing his man's love for them.

The detective happily accepted the sweet treat and swallowed the cream down, but jerked on the cuffs again. "Mmm... feed me the pastry equivalent of cocaine all you like, I _will_ use the safe word if I have to."

Steve finished his own rich delicacy and put his grumpy face on. "Aw, we've never had to use it..." he mumbled, like he was trying to keep some 'personal best' record going.

Danny opened his mouth. "Pineap-" and the word was promptly muffled by another coco puff.

"It doesn't count, you didn't say it!" Steve laughed and kissed his boyfriend, getting cream all over his own lips, but he conceded his position of power with a sigh and got the keys from the drawer to open the cuffs. "Fine, fine..."

When he was finally free, Danny grasped his lover's arms and wrestled him down to the mattress to sprawl out and lie on top of him, before seeking out the paper bag and popping another pastry in his mouth and moaning blissfully as he ate it.

"So, what was that about pizza?" He grinned.

"Oh my god, you've _just_ had dessert! You're not normal..." Steve laughed, eating another mini pastry himself.

Danny licked the sugar off his lips before he could, and used his earlier words against him. "Oh, I think it's an established fact that I don't _do_ normal, Steven..."


	7. Epilogue: Perseus and Andromeda

"I'm glad we came out here tonight, Danno..." Steve shifted his towel and wrapped his arm around his boyfriend as they sat on the open tailgate of the Silverado, lower legs dangling off the edge.

They had taken Friday off and spent the afternoon on the beach; eating steaks cooked on a disposable barbecue, drinking Longboards, and they had even been swimming despite the detective's usual aversion to the ocean. Now they sat side by side, still wearing their swimming shorts and towels and nothing else, the sinking sun keeping them warm as the salt water dried on their skin.

The bed of the truck was filled with blankets and pillows, with their intention being to sleep under the stars after their day together. Steve had suggested it as a camping trip for them, thinking his boyfriend would find a way to get out of going - sun, sea and sand not really being his thing - but Danny had leapt at the chance.

The blonde nestled against his lover and smiled. He was beginning to like the beach, not that he'd openly admit it to anyone, but swimming with his lover was always enjoyable and more than made up for the negative aspects. Especially here on the North shore where Steve had found a secluded beach that people rarely visited and was more often than not completely deserted, so the two men could savour each other's company, letting their activities vary from laughing and chatting and lazy swimming, all the way through to making out and groping one another in the low waves.

The truck was parked on the edge of a grouping of palm trees, hidden from the road, and partially on the beach. Their view from the vehicle was stunning, with a cloudless sky above them and the water stretching out the the horizon, and the sun moving to set at one end of the scenery while the moon was beginning to peek above the landscape at the other end.

"Me too. I'm glad we're doing this... best way to celebrate eighteen months together, huh?" He tilted his head up towards the ex-con, inviting a kiss which he received swiftly.

Steve thought it was adorable that Danny viewed them as being together for eighteen months now, despite their first meeting being behind bars in Halawa, and them being apart for over a year while the brunette completed his sentence. Evidently the cop didn't think that mattered - he had waited for Steve, after all, so he obviously had believed they had a relationship going on despite their physical separation.

It had to be the longest relationship he'd ever been in... hell, two weeks was good going for Steve before he met the detective sitting next to him. And it should scare him, being with someone for this long and entrusting his heart to them like this, but oddly it didn't. Nothing about Danny scared him; he made him stronger.

The leader of Five-0 had now fully recovered from the shooting incident, and was now back on active duty following a slew of tests and fitness exams, so Danny was in a much better mood now that he didn't feel useless and stuck behind a desk. Not that Steve had let the 'being alone at HQ' thing go to waste, getting in more than a few visits over that four week period.

"I love you. So much. You know that, right?"

The detective looked up at him and smiled, crinkling the corners of his blue-grey eyes. "I _do_ know that. And I love you too, Steve." His hand went up to the back of the brunette's neck and pulled him down for another kiss.

The ex-con pulled back after a minute. "But I mean I _really_ love you, Danno... like head-over-heels, always-and-forever, never-ending kind of love. Like I can't believe I'm this lucky, _that_ kind of love..."

Danny let his towel fall off his shoulders now that he had dried off a bit, and leaned back on his hands to give the mechanic a curious look. "I think we've established that you're run-across-a-warehouse-during-a-gunfight in love with me..." He reached up to stroke the side of the brunette's face, "What's brought all this on, babe? Not that I'm disliking this honesty..."

Steve looked out to the ocean. "I dunno, Danny. I just... I can't believe we've been together for this long now. So much has changed since we first met, and we've been there for each other every step of the way, and it's just got me thinking about loneliness is all..."

The blonde creased his brow and waved his hand between them, indicating their relationship. "Us being together has got you thinking about loneliness? I don't get it..."

The taller man sighed and gazed out over the water. The blue sky was beginning to turn a multitude of colours; pinks and purples and oranges as the sun began to set on the horizon.

"Come here," he pulled his boyfriend in against his side and hugged tight, kissing the side of his head and letting his eyes fall on the lapping waves. He had a lot to say, and didn't think he could make it through everything without falling over his own words if he had to look at those beautiful blue eyes while he said it.

"I've been by myself most of my life... Before I met you, I trusted nobody, couldn't open up, and I didn't let anyone stay around long enough to get close to me. I was alone because that's how I liked it. No one to hurt me, no one to get hurt..." He pressed another kiss into the soft golden hair and took a deep breath. "So yeah, I was lonely; at least I thought that's what loneliness was... But it wasn't, not really, because I know now how it truly feels to be alone..."

The detective was more than a little confused. Did Steve feel isolated in their relationship? But the brunette was continuing to speak softly in his ear.

"Danno, the loneliest night of my life was having to come back home to our house _without_ you. Having to leave you in the hospital, still recovering from being shot in the fucking head, because they couldn't let me stay twenty-four seven like I wanted to. I thought loneliness was never having something, but I've realised that it's having something and then losing it, if only for a short time. Baby, I never want that to happen again... to either of us..." He pulled away and kissed the detective gently on the lips, letting it linger for a long time.

Danny was amazed, because it was extremely rare to get that many words out of Steve in a week, let alone in one go.

"I can't promise I won't get hurt again, Steve... I'd love to, but being a cop is dangerous sometimes," he met his gaze and held it to show his sincerity, "but I _can_ promise that I will never leave you by yourself intentionally. I will _never_ hurt you, you understand?"

"I know, Danny. I just wanted you to know how I felt, y'know?" The taller man rubbed the back of his neck, a little embarrased.

"You goof... you keep telling me you're not a giant teddy bear, and yet-" Danny began, but he was cut off by Steve's lips closing over his, the other man's tongue swiping across his lips with an invitation to open to his lover.

He moaned as his mouth was invaded by the mechanic's tongue, Steve's hand sliding over the golden stubble of the cop's jaw while Danny's own hand went to rest over Steve's chest, finding his heart beat fast and furious.

The brunette's hand went back into his hair, gripping it in his strong fingers and tugging until Danny moved back further into the truck's bed, in amongst the pillows and onto the soft foam mattress they'd placed in there.

Steve barely broke the kiss as it turned hotter and more desperate, and he began to bite at the detective's lips as he pushed him down to the floor and his free hand went to pull at Danny's swim shorts.

"Off," he growled, and the blonde managed to wriggle the elastic over his hips and get the garment down his legs to kick them off.

The ex-con struggled out of his own clothing, and once he was naked he straddled his boyfriend's legs with his knees bracketing the Jersey native's hips. His teeth were worrying at Danny's neck and earlobe while the blonde gasped breathlessly and writhed under him.

"You honestly want to keep calling me a teddy bear? I'm only going to keep proving to you I'm not soft and cuddly..." he growled low and dangerous in his lover's ear, the shudder running through the shorter man rewarding the dominant part of him.

"Fucking hell, Steve, why do you think I keep saying it?" Danny laughed at the brunette, but it was cut off to draw in a gasp when the other man's jaws closed over his throat and sharp incisors dug into his flesh. He closed his eyes and let out a softly whispered "Fuck..." as his boyfriend conquered him slowly but surely.

He'd already been turned on by the kissing, Steve was very talented at making out and letting his hands wander to add to the experience, but Danny was now hard as a rock while his boyfriend bit down over his exposed neck with enough pressure to leave small indentations in the skin.

He arched his back into his lover's touch and whined when he was pushed back down to the mattress. Steve began to nip up his artery to his ear again and suck the lobe in between his lips. Danny turned his head to allow the mechanic to nuzzle his face against him, stubbled chin grazing the sensitive skin and raising goosebumps all over his body.

The brunette was relishing the little noises he was pulling from his captive, and he sought out the man's wrists to hold them up either side of Danny's head while he attacked the cop's known areas of weakness from the ever-useful treasure map in his head.

He had to let go of the blonde's wrist briefly to blindly search for the bag they'd stashed in the back with their sleeping gear. He pulled out the lube and finally pulled back from his boyfriend's neck so he could get him into a better position.

"Turn over," he whispered hoarsely, lifting up to give the detective enough room, but he didn't move and just grinned up at Steve.

"Make me..."

The ex-con growled dangerously and the cop licked his lips. Steve did love it when his man challenged him; it meant he got to be that extra bit rougher, winning his control was that little bit more victorious when the blonde finally gave himself up.

He dropped the bottle when Danny went for him, grasping his biceps and pushing up in an attempt to flip them. The mechanic was ready for him and thew his weight into holding the other man down, but he was strong and still managed to tip them, using the momentum to roll on top of him.

The cop dipped down, grabbing a fistful of the brunette's hair and biting at his collarbone, his throat and his lips while Steve moaned and made a vague attempt at shoving him away. His heart wasn't completely in it though, because damn Danny's mouth felt good on him...

"Mmm... I am going to punish you for this..." Steve whispered gruffly, knowing that for them, punishment was often reward.

"You can try," Danny laughed, "but I think I'm winning right now..." Then before the taller man could throw him off like he'd planned, the detective's teeth were clamping down over one of his nipples.

Steve released a surprised and lascivious mix of groaning and growling sounds as lightning sparked through his body. "Oh sweet Jesus!"

He stopped fighting for a moment as his brain short circuited and the sensations from Danny's mouth on one nub and his fingers pinching the other took over. He dug his fingers into his boyfriend's shoulders and bucked up, rubbing his cock against the cop's hip. The blonde used the distraction to place his knees either side of Steve's thighs and tighten his grip on his upper arm, rolling his hips to glide their erections together.

"Oh shit, baby..." The brunette gasped from the multitude of nerve endings firing messages to the pleasure centre in his brain, "So fucking hard for me... I want you so badly, I'm gonna bury my cock inside you so deep..."

Danny moaned against his chest as he swirled a tongue around the other nipple, soothing the reddened skin caused by his calloused fingers, and he pressed their dicks together again. He loved it when his man told him what he wanted to do, it sparked flames of desire to flare up in his soul.

Steve grasped at the back of his head, trapping hair between his fingers and pulling him away from his gorgeous, tanned body. He pushed Danny upright on his knees and sat up to bite a trail of fire across his stomach before using all his strength to throw his boyfriend down to the truck's floor, chest first.

All the air was knocked out of the blonde from the impact, and then the taller man was on him, pinning him down to the mattress and licking a long line up his spine.

Danny tasted like the ocean they'd been swimming in, like salt and summer days and heat, and all the good things Steve associated with time spent at the beach. He thought about how, upon meeting Danny in prison and getting to know him, falling for him, he'd made him think of sunshine and warmth and everything he was missing when locked up inside those walls... This man was his endless summer, his key to heaven, his everything.

Steve grabbed the discarded bottle of lube and bracketed Danny's thighs with his knees, kneeling up and using one hand to pull the blonde's cheeks apart and the other to squirt the cool liquid directly onto his puckered hole.

The detective yelped under him and he couldn't help but snicker at the surprised tone.

"That's cold, you bastard!" Danny grouched, but he leaned up on his elbows and pushed his ass up towards his lover all the same.

The sun was just dipping below the horizon, but the moon was full and rising, casting a beautiful muted light over them. For the brunette, it just seemed to highlight every perfect curve, every flexing muscle in the man below him.

"You are beautiful..." he sighed, planting a delicate kiss in between the detective's shoulder blades.

Danny's reply was interrupted by a moan as a finger pushed into his ass, and he let his head drop to press his forehead into the bedding below him.

"Oh Christ... Steve..." He relaxed into his boyfriend's delicate touch, such a contrast to their rough wrestling match from moments ago.

It felt amazing every time that man worked him open, readying him to take his cock and receive his love, and this time was no different. He liked it when Steve was coarse and invasive, he liked it when the brunette was careful and loving... hell, as long as it was Steve, that's all he ever needed to enjoy himself. He never wanted or needed anyone else's touch, Steve was it for him, and it had been clear for a long time that he was the first thing Danny wanted to see in the morning and the last thing he wanted wrapped and round him at night.

The mechanic stretched him with two and then three fingers, preparing him as he licked and nipped every sensitive spot on the cop's back and hips, anywhere he could reach, but while his attentions were gentle, the way he pinned the blonde down was hot and commanding.

"God, Steve... I need you..." Danny didn't think he'd ever been so desperate to have his boyfriend inside him. He ached for him, pushing back against his hand that just wasn't quite enough anymore.

The ex-con hummed happily and pulled his fingers out, leaving the Jersey native feeling bereft. He pushed Danny's chest down to the mattress and twisted his arms up behind him, placing his wrists together in the small of his back so he could hold them both there in one hand. He used the other to separate the blonde's ass cheeks again, and then he nestled the head of his cock at his entrance and pushed gently, teasing with pressure but not going any further.

"Do you want me to fuck you, Danny? Do you want me to make you scream?"

The detective shivered, but it had nothing to do with the cooling night air that breezed over his bare skin. "Steve, stop fucking teasing. You know what I want..."

"I know it, but I wanna hear it," he grinned like a Cheshire cat, putting his mouth right up to the shell of his lover's ear and breathing hot air over the back of his neck. His tongue darted out to run over his earlobe and his hand tightened around the cop's wrists. "I wanna hear you _say_ it..."

Danny wriggled under him, trying to gain some stimulation for his own cock against the mattress, but he was firmly weighed down. The mechanic knew exactly how to wind him up, how to get him to the stage where he was frantic and pleading... and he loved every second of the torture.

"Steve... I need you, I need you inside me... I want you to fuck me, now. Hard..." he whimpered and flexed his shoulders, "Please, I need you to fuck me..."

The taller man laid his body flush to his boyfriend's, his free hand curled under Danny's chin and pulled his face up so he could kiss him, taking his mouth hard as he plunged his cock inside him, claiming every part of him.

The detective gasped around the tongues in his mouth and moaned long and slow as his lover filled him, sharp pain giving way to burning pleasure. Steve gave him a moment to adjust to him and relax, before breaking the kiss and pushing up on the hand that had been cradling his boyfriend's jaw.

He adjusted his knees for leverage and held fast to Danny's arms at his back, drawing out to drive into him again repeatedly. The cop shouted wordlessly and canted his hips upward, and suddenly every thrust was hitting his sweet spot, lightning shooting up his spine and making him groan louder and louder.

The ex-con found himself moaning Danny's name uncontrollably, interspersed with grunts and curses and unintelligible sounds of lust. The sight of his cock sliding into that perfect ass in the moonlight was enough to make him lose himself, just revel in the feeling of being inside his lover, giving Danny the experience he desired while getting to live out his own fantasies... It was perfection. Almost... because as much as he loved this position, he needed to see his man, wanted to watch his face as he came.

He let go of Danny's wrists and pulled it of him. "Turn over, baby," he said, voice practically a whisper as he panted hard from the effort.

Steve moved off his legs and the blonde did as he requested this time, rolling onto his back and stretching out his arms above his head. The mechanic's knees muscled in between his thighs and Danny observed him as he went to all fours above him.

God, he was gorgeous in the half light, like a marble statue or a work of art. The pale silver glinting off the sheen of sweat that covered his skin, outlining his shoulders, his pectorals, his jaw line. He was amazing, something beautiful to behold, and in the darkness Danny could just make out the hazel-grey eyes that he loved to gaze into.

Steve pressed their bodies together, running his hands up the undersides of the blonde's arms where they remained reaching toward the cab of the truck, twisting their fingers together. The fast-paced furious passion of the last few minutes ramped down into a slow and languid kiss, and the taller man brought one hand down to cup his boyfriend's cheek. Danny did the same, brushing his fingers over Steve's stubble before resting them on the brunette's hand where it lay against his face.

Their breathing slowed as they took their time investigating each other's mouths, the desire for one another's bodies still bubbling underneath, but tempered by the need to express something deeper.

The kiss broke, and Danny leaned up to press his forehead into Steve's.

"I love you babe, I really do. And it's that head-over-heels, always-and-forever, never-ending kind of love. You're not the only one who feels like they've been saved, y'know..." They both opened their eyes and met one another's gaze from inches apart, so intimate that the detective could feel his throat closing up, but he choked out his next words despite that constricted feeling.

"I thought my world had ended with my divorce, felt like I'd never find that kind of happiness again, like I'd had my chance and ruined it... and then you turn up and turn my fucking world upside down..." He let out his manic little giggle and Steve couldn't help but laugh too. "Sometimes I think that getting framed as a dirty cop was the best thing that ever happened to me since being on this island... because despite everything I went through during that investigation, it led me to _you_. I am..." he paused and swallowed, having to take a deep breath, "I am forever grateful to whichever deity or higher power or whatever it was that took me to that moment... because I got you..."

The ex-con smiled despite the tears forming in his eyes, because hearing all of this from his lover was just making the night more and more perfect.

The Jersey native brought the brunette down for another soft kiss, breathing in the scent of his skin and soaking up the warmth of his embrace.

Steve used the kiss to gently press Danny's head back down onto the mattress, then he pulled back and smiled, whispering to him in the still of the evening. "No one else has you."

The cop grinned, creasing the corners of his eyes again. Eighteen months ago those words had been said by Steve in ownership of his cell mate's body, but now it was said in ownership of his boyfriend's heart and soul instead.

"No, no one else has me... and no one else has _you_."

The mechanic shook his head. "Not ever..."

They kissed again, and Danny rolled his hips up to give their cocks friction where they were trapped between their stomachs. Steve moaned into his mouth, lifted up onto his elbows and shifted so he was perfectly positioned between his lover's legs while Danny spread his thighs for him.

Steve pressed forward and entered him again, and the blonde wrapped his legs around the taller man's waist to bring him in, his arms coming down to slip under Steve's armpits and curl around his back. The ex-con's arms slipped under his boyfriend, and finally they were fully entangled in one another, while Steve's hips rose and fell steadily, their continuing kiss carrying the passion through to their love-making.

They had to eventually release each other's lips to breath, and their rhythm began to increase gradually, the pace becoming faster as they tucked their faces into one another necks and panted and moaned. Danny's fingers twined into Steve's hair at the base of his skull, the brunette left open-mouthed kisses along the cop's jaw, and the building, coiling sensations they both felt tightened and threatened to tear them in half.

Their movements were too lethargic, the momentum too low to take them where they both needed to go, but the second the detective's nails dug into the back of the mechanic's neck he let himself fly. Steve growled against Danny's throat and braced his hands on his boyfriend's shoulders from underneath, and then he sped up his thrusts, building to a pounding rhythm, rocking the truck below them on its suspension as his hips slapped against the muscle of the cop's thighs.

The dam finally broke with Danny's orgasm, release washing over him like the waves they had swum in together earlier. He shouted his lover's name and bowed his back as fireworks went off behind his closed eyelids.

Steve followed him over the edge, pushing deep into his spasming channel and letting his climax crash through him. His voice was raw as Danny's name was torn from his lips, and he collapsed down onto his lover as all of his energy flooded out of him.

When he came back to himself, the blonde had extricated him and tipped them onto their sides so they faced one another, both taking deep lungfuls of oxygen to cope with their exertion. They came down from their highs, caressing each other's faces and sharing brief, sweet kisses. Steve reached for the blankets and pulled them over the two of them.

"I love you, babe," Danny stroked his thumb over the mechanic's cheekbone, regarding him from under heavy eyelids.

"I love you too, Danno," the ex-con smiled, kissing him again.

A couple of hours later, Steve awoke to the sound of gentle waves and the breeze in the nearby trees. The sky above them was a dark, inky black and full of some of the brightest stars he'd ever seen. This was why he had brought Danny out here, knowing that the light pollution of Waikiki and Honolulu could ruin the view of the night sky, but out here where there were no nearby cities, you could see for lightyears.

He rolled to rouse his lover, only to find him already gazing up into space.

"I was gonna wake you," Danny murmured, still staring at the sky, "I just… it's beautiful, Steven…"

The brunette smiled, observing how his boyfriend's pale eyes reflected the stars. "Yeah, it is…"

The cop looked at him, aware that the ex-con was gazing at him and not the sky, and smirked. "You are a cheesy son of a bitch, you know that?" He laughed, and Steve snorted and had to concede.

"Damn it, that line _always_ works in the movies!" He dragged himself into a sitting position, leaning back against the pillows at the rear of the truck's cab. Danny moved so his head and shoulders rested on the mechanic's abs and his arm trailed down the brunette's thigh. Steve wrapped his arm over his lover and took the hand which came reaching for his.

Steve used his other hand to point to the stars. "You see that constellation there?" He indicated some points of light in a long, jagged line, with a branch coming away from the central column around two thirds of the way up.

Danny nodded. "Mm hm." He sounded interested, so the ex-con continued.

"That's Perseus, from Greek mythology."

"Aah, the guy who cut off Medusa's head, right?" The detective grinned up at him and Steve smiled back.

"Oh, so you know your myths, huh?" He teased. "Pray, tell me, who did Perseus go on to rescue, using Medusa's head as a weapon?"

The Jersey native screwed his eyes closed. "Shit, I know this one…" He paused for a long time before sighing, "Ugh, I can't remember…"

"Andromeda," the mechanic informed him.

"I knew it!" The blonde threw his free hand up in the air dramatically, making Steve laugh softly.

"Perseus used the head of Medusa to turn the sea monster Cetus to stone; Andromeda was going to be sacrificed to him because her mother had claimed the girl was more beautiful than the sea nymphs," the brunette ran his hand through his boyfriend's hair, still dusted with salt from the ocean.

"Ooh, sea nymphs huh? I like the sound of that," the blonde wiggled his eyebrows at Steve, "Do they have those here in Hawaii?"

The ex-con smacked him lightly on the shoulder. "No, they do _not_ , and you're off limits anyhow," he went back to carding his fingers through Danny's hair, "Listen, I know it's cheesy or whatever, but as far as I'm concerned, you're my Perseus…"

He expected Danny to mock him for that, but the cop just gazed up at him for a moment, a thoughtful look passing through his eyes. Then he was rolling onto his knees, shifting the blankets away, and straddling his boyfriend where he sat.

The blonde cupped Steve's jaw tenderly and upturned his face, kissing him soft and slow and raising the hairs on the back of the mechanic's neck. His voice was gentle when he spoke. "Well, I have to say… Andromeda, you are _definitely_ more beautiful than any sea nymph _I've_ ever seen," he smirked, and received another whack to his arm.

They kissed again, but when the detective pulled back again he stared down at his lover's chest and trailed preoccupied fingers across his stomach for a few seconds. Steve was about to ask if he was okay, but Danny bit his lip and finally made eye contact with him again.

"Do you, uh… do you know what happened with Perseus and Andromeda?" The emotion behind his ice blue eyes was open and raw, and it threw the brunette off balance for a moment.

Steve nodded gently. "They… they had a family… they got married…"

"Yeah, they did…"

The two men stared silently at each other, possibly for only seconds, possibly for hours, eyes searching one another carefully.

Danny moved first, reaching up to brush his thumb over Steve's lips, so cautiously like he was afraid he might scare him away.

"Marry me, Steve?"

The ex-con's breath hitched in his chest, and he opened his mouth to speak but he faltered.

The cop's eyes flicked away from his, and he moved to climb off his boyfriend, dismayed. "I'm sorry, I… I shouldn't have-"

"No, Danny, wait," Steve gripped his hips and brought him back down, placing one hand on the side of his lover's face while he swallowed hard, "I'm sorry I hesitated, I was just… what I said earlier, about not trusting anyone, not opening myself up… I've never been able to commit before, the whole concept terrifies me, and I thought if anyone ever asked me that question then I would want to, I dunno, run for the hills or something, that all I would feel was fear but…" His voice was breathy, tears forming in his hazel eyes, and an expression of awe slipped onto his face, "but, god, all I felt was joy!"

The blonde stared at him, stunned. "So that's…"

"Yes. Fuck, Danno, yes!"

The two men crushed themselves together, wrapping their arms around one another's backs and squeezing as tightly as they could, burying their faces into the crooks of each other's necks. Steve pulled back and took his fiancé's lips hard, hands going into his hair and holding firmly as he pressed his tongue into Danny's mouth.

Their bodies reacted to the kiss as it deepened, and soon the mechanic was grasping his lover's ass and pulling him in closer, rubbing their hardening dicks together. The detective wasted no time, wanting to seal their promise to each other by doing what they did best, and he reached for the discarded lube from earlier and dripped it onto Steve's cock before raising up, shifting forward and sinking down onto him.

Their groans of pleasure combined together in their mouths as they continued their kiss, and Steve's strong hands moved to grip the muscle of Danny's back, taking control of his movements as he rose and fell above him in rhythmic swells like the ocean which lapped not too far from their position. The cop grabbed the bar on the back of the Silverado cab's roof with both hands and held tight as he rolled his hips and impaled himself on his fiancé's cock over and over.

He had to break the kiss eventually, to gasp in the oxygen he needed and allow them to release the indulgent noises that had been muffled by one another's tongues.

Danny threw his head back while Steve bit hot, red marks into his chest and slid a hand up to take hold of his throat. His whole body thrummed with the anticipation of what their future held, and right there in that moment the desire for the taller man was increased tenfold by the exhilaration of their pledge to one another.

The ex-con couldn't stop his eyes from wondering over every visible inch of his man as he rode him, even with just the light of the moon and stars to see by, and he felt utterly complete. His man, his lover, his fiancé, and it was forever.

The passion between them took hold, and the emotion of the moment brought them to their completion sooner than they'd expected. The brunette brought his hand around from his lover's back to stroke his straining cock a few times, and Danny spilled his heat between them, painting their stomachs. The way he gasped Steve's name tore the mechanic's climax from him as he hauled them together again and pulsed inside his lover, bringing the blonde down to melt against his chest.

Danny tucked his head against Steve's shoulder and heaved air into his lungs as they traversed their orgasms together, muscles tensing and quivering.

"I love you, Danno…" The ex-con kissed the side of his face and nuzzled his neck.

The cop slid his hands behind Steve and he trailed his fingers in lazy circles at the base of the man's spine. "I love you too… so much…"

After a long few minutes of absorbing each other's warmth and the feel of sweaty skin on skin, Danny eventually slid out of his fiancé's lap, curling into his side. They tucked themselves under the blankets again, and the detective sighed and relaxed against the taller man while his fingers caressed through his blonde hair again.

Steve smiled as his mind drifted, and he kissed the top of his lover's head. "I think Gracie should pick out our rings," he murmured, and felt the other man squeeze him around the waist.

"That would be amazing, babe," Danny whispered, his heart bursting at the seams, "Perfect…"

They fell asleep wrapped in each other against the pillows, dreaming of Greek myths and stars, until the sunrise woke them with the promise of a new day.


End file.
